Targeting compassion to ensure maximum benefit for Ukrainians

DAY after day, our newspapers and screens are filled with shocking images of cities in Ukraine being systematically demolished by Russian heavy artillery.

And as the bombardment turns boulevards and residential estates into smouldering apocalyptic wastelands, so we bear witness to people fleeing their homeland in their hundreds of thousands, desperate to reach the border and safety.

Here in the UK, we look on aghast at the unfolding horror, keen to reach out and show we care, asking ourselves what we can we do to help.

But it is important that good intentions are not wasted. Rather that they are properly directed for maximum benefit.

Today we report on donations of clothes heaped up at the UkrainePoland border.

Charlie Hannerton, a volunteer from Cornwall who has been working at the border, says donations arrive by the truckload from all over Europe, but volunteers do not have time to sort through unlabelled and unsorted containers.

His photos show something akin to a chaotic jumble sale, with cardboard boxes of clothes piled high and spilling out on to border crossing car parks. Not that anyone is browsing the offerings. “The refugees and volunteers on the border simply don’t have enough time to give them to people. When the refugees arrive, they’re literally brought into the camp and then immediately put on a bus or ferried into Europe in a car,” he said.

While certain items are useful, such as nappies and blankets, much of the rest is likely to go to waste. “When the volunteers on the border say no clothes donations, they really mean no clothes,” he added.

It is a shame that well-intentioned donations could end up in landfill, but it is understandable that those crossing the border and taking only what they can carry are unlikely to waste time sifting through secondhand clothes. Their priority is to move on to their next destination and accommodation.

A number of humanitarian organisations have urged well-wishers to donate money to a reputable charity, rather than send miscellaneous donated items. And Charlie’s photos show this is a message worth heeding. Emergency aid organisations, such as the Red Cross and UNHCR among others, are well placed and well experienced in providing for refugees.

For those thinking of making a contribution to the aid effort, such organisations and charities ensure money is well spent where it is most needed. And for those whose generosity extends beyond a financial donation, the Government’s ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme is already proving popular among those with room to spare to house a refugee family for several months.

The many thousands who signed up, crashing the system within hours, demonstrates our compassion and desire to make a difference to those who have lost so much.

We applaud everyone who has given money or agreed to open their home to Ukrainian refugees. It seems these are among the ways we can best offer help.