The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Ukraine donations are ‘dying off ’, says group
When Russia invaded Ukraine back in February, the world flew into crisis mode.
Hubs were established that people could donate food and clothing to and communities were rallying together to help the Ukrainian people.
It was all anyone was talking about.
However, as the months have gone on, volunteers supporting Ukrainian refugees have said that donations have plummeted and all but “died off” as a possible result of the conflict sometimes “not being on the news”.
A dedicated Tayside team have been working together since the conflict broke out to provide food, clothing and toiletries to those over in Ukraine and refugees arriving in Scotland.
The group, called Tayside and Strathearn Help for Ukraine (TASH4UKRAINE), formed when five members of the group got together on February 28, just four days after Russia’s invasion.
The aim of the group was to explore ways in which they could provide practical support to Ukrainians affected and displaced by the conflict.
From the beginning, the team have collaborated closely with the Polish Scouts Association in Perth in order to gather donations of food, clothes and toiletries.
However, volunteers are now concerned that they are not getting as many donations as they once were.
Lindsey Grieve is a volunteer working with the team.
She said: “I came along to volunteer about two weeks after the project started. To begin with, we got every donation that we wanted. Unfortunately, the number of donations coming in now has really died off.
“The donations that we are looking for are nonperishable foods so we can send to specific points in Ukraine.
“We are also looking for medical supplies to go out to Ukraine. We’re looking for toiletries also.”
As well as sending out aid boxes to Ukraine, the group have also sent out welcome boxes and motherand-baby boxes to those arriving in Tayside and out in Ukraine as well.
So far, the team has given out 300 welcome boxes in Aviemore, Dundee and Perth.
The warehouse where the volunteers pack boxes and receive donations is at Errol Airfield, at Morris Leslie’s Car Auction, with the building being loaned to the team by Morris Leslie himself.
The team joined forces early on with Dundeebased charity Siobhan’s Trust, which was created back in 2020 in honour of Siobhan Dundee and provides support to young people in the community and the environment.
They also joined up with a group of Polish volunteers working near the Ukraine border in Medyka, which has been crucial to the group’s efforts as it has allowed them to tailor the aid that they send over.
There are now 15 hardcore volunteers, with a committed team called the “Angel Ladies” on hand to sort through donations each day.
So far, the group has sent over £536,000 worth of necessary aid and have sent 25 lorries to the Ukrainian border.
They are working to pack up and send their 26th.
The aid gets sent to the Folkowisko Foundation in Cieszanow, a Polish depot working to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
Former military man Kenneth Simpson has been co-ordinating the immense volume of aid donations from across Tayside.
He said: “We received a phone call from Morris Leslie on the first of March, saying that the council had been on at him wondering if he could help with the Ukrainian war.
“He has donated a warehouse and forklift but asked me, due to my previous military experience, if I could coordinate and run the warehouse for him because he didn’t want to do that.
“I agreed and that was over five-and-a-half months ago now and we have never stopped since.”
Businesses and locals from across Tayside have been instrumental in helping the group gather and collect donations.
Kenny continued: “The businesses and people of Tayside and beyond have been excellent but we are desperate for food, toiletries and medicine.
“The flow of donations has slowed right down to a
trickle because everybody is feeling the pinch now with big electricity bills, food prices have soared and Ukraine is now at the bottom of the headlines.”
Kenny said: “I think because the conflict is not getting as much news, people think that they might be able to go back, thinking that the war must be over because they’re not hearing much about it.
“However, it’s not any better, it’s actually worse.
“People are full of kindness and spirit when it all kicks off and they want to do something about it.
“We were getting up to 60 volunteers every day and that’s now dwindled because people’s want to help only lasts so long.”
You can keep up to date with the group’s lifesaving work on Facebook and can also check collection points across Tayside for donations.