Model train fair organisers target £100,000 for stricken residents
ONE of the country’s leading organisers of model train and toy fairs is close to raising £100,000 in a fundraising and humanitarian venture that donates food and specialist medical supplies from Poland to Ukraine’s beleaguered residents and returns with refugees fleeing the conflict.
Barry Potter, his son Ellis, and daughter-in-law Valentina run Northamptonshire-based BP Fairs, which was founded in 1979 and holds model train and toy collectors’ fairs at such venues as Sandown Park and Doncaster racecourses, the NEC Birmingham, and Bolton stadium.
Ukranian-born Valentina, who has lived in the UK for 20 years, and her 51-year-old husband Ellis also run Riverside Hub, an indoor play centre in Northampton.
With Valentina still having family and friends in Ukraine, the couple launched the fundraising campaign three months ago with a £20,000 donation, and to date more than £80,000 has already been raised.
“We could not just sit back and watch what was taking place in Ukraine and do nothing,” said 39-yearold Valentina.
“Fortunately we have trusted contacts over there, so we were able to set up a system which really works.”
That system, she explained, involves sending the funds directly to Poland for buying such vital items as food and medical supplies, which is delivered to Ukraine in a 50-seater coach that returns to Poland full of Ukrainians fleeing the conflict. “Over the past month the coach has delivered aid to an orphanage, hospitals, and even bomb shelters,” she said. “No one knows how long this will all last, and how long we can continue with these aid deliveries, so we are doing all we can right now to help those over there. Every penny donated is spent on aid and everyone involved is volunteering – we are not frittering away people’s money on wages or advertising.”
Ellis added: “It was surprising how quickly we got to £50,000 after the campaign’s launch, and although it slowed down a little after that, we’ve now topped £80,000 and are hoping to reach £100,000.”
Match funding
He said local schools had showed support, which included pupils wearing Ukraine’s national colours of blue and yellow, and pledged that Riverside Hub would match funds raised by the schools.
Valentina’s campaign is being enthusiastically promoted by Thornaby-based Vectis, one of the world’s biggest model train and toy auction houses, whose managing director, Vicky Weall, said: “We are only too happy to support this very worthy cause, and hopefully by placing details on our Facebook and Twitter accounts we will enhance donations.”
BP Fairs’ next event is on May 21 at Sandown Park racecourse in Surrey, which will feature 500 stalls and is billed as ‘Europe’s No. 1 toy collectors’ fair,’ with venues for next month’s fairs being Stafford County Showground on June 19 and Bolton Stadium a week later.
Details of how Heritage Railway readers can donate to the campaign may be found online at www. hubhelpukraine.org