Beverley’s incredible response to appeal for aid for Ukraine

Thanks have been given to the overwhelming generosity of the Beverley community after thousands of boxes of aid were collected and sent to help those fleeing the crisis in Ukraine.

Touched by the devastating scenes of the desperate plight faced by Ukrainians following the invasion by Russia on 24th February, Beth Fletcher from Tickton felt compelled to act.

With the help of friends and family, she began to create care packages for the Ukrainian refugees fleeing to Poland from their home country.

After posting a message about her project on Facebook, she was inundated with offers of help and so created the Beverley For Ukraine Facebook group, which now has over 1,500 members.

Donations of food, medicine, toiletries and clothing began to flood in from Beverley and the surrounding villages, which was stored, sorted and boxed at her parents Caroline and Richard’s house in Woodmansey.

Beth reached out online for ways to transport the care packages and aid to Ukraine or neighbouring Poland and met Ella Zaczyk and Maria Ditch from Retford who had links with the area.

The offer of storage space in containers at the New 2 Me Clothing Bank on Skerne Road in Driffield was gratefully accepted, with at least 50 car journeys made by volunteers to take collections received at Woodmansey to the storage containers.

Two shipments containing thousands of sorted and labelled boxes of food, medicine, toiletries and clothing have been transported to Ukraine and Poland, with the latest articulated lorry leaving last Tuesday (29th March).

Dozens of volunteers and local businesses have given their time and effort to help sort, pack and label the donations. Inside each box was hand-knitted or hand-written items, including bracelets, made by local people for the people in Ukraine to keep.

Beth told Beverley Life that it was very emotional seeing the lorries leave with all the aid, knowing they will make a real difference to the lives of those fleeing Ukraine.

She said: “My grandad was a refugee after his father, who was Hungarian, was taken as a prisoner of war by the Russians.

“He can’t bear to watch the news about Ukraine and after I saw clips of Ukrainians who were pleading for help, I just knew I had to do something.

“I thought at first if I could just make up 100 care packages to send that would be a help and so I made an appeal on Facebook and it just accelerated from there.

“It started with a few people dropping off donations at my house and my mum and dad’s and then we had so many offers of helping hands, donations, and drop off point locations.

“When I reached out to Maria and Ella a few days after starting this appeal, they told me that essential aid could be taken directly into Ukraine itself which was fantastic news.

“The 1st Molescroft Scouts group offered us a gazebo to help us with our storage, but we were soon running out of space at my parents’ house.

“We were contacted by New 2 Me Clothing Bank in Driffield who arranged a container for us to store the donations and we have had three containers filled to the brim.

“All of the packing, organising, logistics and all other elements of this appeal was done at my parents’ home.

“We then had the offer of help from Sue Vokes, who works at Tickton Primary School, and she offered to be not only a drop-off point, but also to help us with the packing process with a team of volunteers.

“She was amazing and we are so thankful to her, she took a great deal of pressure from us and her and her team were incredible.

“My family, friends and I worked tirelessly, some 17-hour full days, packing every single donation. We had to ensure each item was packed efficiently and every single box packed needed checking by myself to ensure they were correctly packed and to check everything was correct, due to strict border control.

“I am over the moon with how the appeal has gone. I never expected it would go as far as it has.

“It is very emotional to see the lorries drive away.

“This is the biggest thing I have ever done, but I have seen photos of the aid when it arrives and it makes it all so worthwhile.

“This has been a real team effort and there are so many people I would like to thank but I don’t want to miss anyone.

“So, thank you to everyone who has supported the collection in whatever way.

“Special thanks to all my family and friends, especially my mum and dad and friends Michael Oxtoby, Gemma Fox-Hobson and Megan Richardson.

“Thanks to Sue Vokes from Tickton Primary School and to all those businesses, schools and individuals who set up drop off points, the volunteer drivers, 1st Molescroft Scouts and Becky who organised collections from Morrisons in Bridlington.

“Thanks to Dave who has made over 50 car journeys from Beverley to Driffield to take the donations to the storage containers.

“I have met so many people and made friends for life in Ella and Maria from Retford – I could not have done any of this without them.

“I am not in a position to be able to carry this one because my mum and dad and I all work full-time, however I hope to continue to help fundraise with Ella and Maria from Retford and at some point, I would like to go further to help some of the refugees.”

The first lorry load transported by Venture Seafoods in Bridlington was accompanied by Beth and Karen from Beverley Ambulance Service. This contained first aid, toiletries, food and thermal clothing.

The second articulated lorry left on 29th March and included 5,000 boxes of essential items including duvets, sleeping bags, baby essentials, medical supplies, torches and batteries.