Thousands of donations from Dumfriesshire are set to be distributed to Ukrainian refugees in Poland.
Two trucks containing 34 tonnes of goods are on their way and being hauled for free thanks to A.W. Jenkinson Transport – which has a base in Lockerbie – following a massive local response to the Russian invasion.
The donations are en route to a charity in the town of Zlotoryja in western Poland where they will be distributed to refugees who have escaped their war-torn country with little or nothing.
A.W. Jenkinson Transport Limited – one of the UK’s largest providers of haulage, distribution and logistics services – offered to help after seeing the huge volume of goods that flooded in to an appeal at the Ukrainian POW Chapel at Hallmuir near Lockerbie and collections by the town’s Rotary Club, the Rotary Club of Dumfries Devorgilla and at Dino Polish Shops in Dumfries and other locations in Cumbria.
Volunteers sorted and boxed the goods that have filled two articulated trucks with 44 pallets of items ranging from dried food to medication, bedding and nappies.
Teddy Stamper, transport manager at A.W. Jenkinson Transport, said: “Providing this service for free is the least we could do.
“We wanted to do anything we can to help ease in a small way the suffering of these people who have been going through something horrendous.”
A statement from organisers of the appeal at the Ukrainian Chapel said: “A huge thank you to A.W. Jenkinson, Lockerbie, for transporting the humanitarian aid which has been so generously donated by local people including Lockerbie and Devorgilla Rotaries.
“We are still unable to accept more aid at the moment until we know it can be transported. Anyone wishing to contribute can do so financially through GoFundMe.com/HelpUkraine or your preferred international charity. Thank you again.”
