Berko To Poland: Aid to Ukraine

12/10/2022

In April, thanks to your amazing generosity, we raised £24,700 and packed five vans full of essential supplies. These we sent to Ustron, a Polish town, struggling to cope with an influx of Ukrainian families fleeing the war.
During August, Stas and Emma (who led the aid for Ustron project) visited Ustron to find out what they had used the funds for and how they were continuing to cope.
We met Urszula, the refugee effort co-ordinator, who talked to us about the critical work they had been doing and how our donations had been applied.
Back in April the distribution centre that received our donations was a vital lifeline for families, providing essential supplies. Urszula explained how the items were distributed to families each day and how much they were appreciated. Thankfully as a result of funding from the Polish Government and re-establishment of essential supply lines, the refugees are now able to shop locally for supplies.
Of the 1500 refugees that arrived last March just a few hundred have returned to their hometowns in Ukraine. Whilst some have found jobs, many are unable to work as they are the primary carers, guardians or parents of the many children that fled with them. Some foster carers came with up to 11 children in their care.
The funds provided to the Ustron refugee committee have enabled them to take on several projects. In particular, they have provided two Ukrainian trained counsellors and educational specialists, to set up and run family support sessions for the Ukrainian teenagers and their parents.
They have also supported a local day centre in Ustron for children with disabiltiies. Nine of the Ukrainian children that fled to Ustron had varying disability needs requiring specialist care and they have all been supported by the centre. The children benefit from daily sessions to support their physio, educational and well-being needs. We met Dorota during our visit who manages the centre to see the amazing work she does.
For those interested, details of the day centre are here: www.niepelnosprawniustron.pl
We hope through this update to have shared with you the very real impact that our donations had had on the lives of the people in this community. In a very practical way the goods and funds have provided essential nourishment, support, care and education. However, just as important, Urszula told us that receiving donations like ours at that time provided much needed hope to those struggling to cope with the unfolding crisis. It was uplifting to know that people cared about their plight and were willing to make such extraordinary sacrifices to help. We know these donations made a real difference and we thank you once again for your immense generosity.
Should you wish to continue to support Ukrainian families now living locally in Berkhamsted and Tring please go to www.berkotringukraine.com

19/04/2022

It’s been a week since we returned from our aid convoy to Ustron.
Our reception was a little muted as there was disbelief that we would arrive with the promised supplies. Unfortunately several earlier promises by other teams had been made and few materialised and so, when we arrived, it took them a little bit by surprise.

They soon started to unload the vans and were astounded to see how we had stuck to their “shopping list”. Our labelled boxes meant that the food bank could be stocked easily and quickly. Two of our van loads filled the food store and the three remaining vans were redirected to a local authority warehouse.

The refugee coordination team were highly appreciative of the items we brought, which were all things that they needed and especially the new clothing (underwear, socks, T-shirts leggings and joggers) and other urgently needed supplies which we were able to add to the vans. They thanked our logistics team for the work done beforehand together with the immense task the drivers undertook!

The monetary balance of the donations, £24,000, will be transferred to the Ustron refugee co-ordination team. It will support the future well-being of the new town dwellers. In particular, equipping the Ukrainian children with school stationary, employing learning support teachers, purchasing therapeutic equipment and medicines. Unfortunately, aid offered by the state will not be sufficient to provide for basic needs as the conflict continues without an end in sight.

This gesture has made a significant difference in the lives of many but also, perhaps just as importantly, was a sign to them that others across the world are thinking of them in this time of crisis.

We thank everyone from our community once again for their tremendous response and generous support.

17/04/2022

https://gofund.me/040d669c

We are a team of local dads who are giving up three days to drive 1000 mil… Stas Strach needs your support for Urgent supplies for refugees in Ustron, Poland

11/04/2022

Made it! We are done! (in)

11/04/2022

11/04/2022

We have company whilst queuing! Aaaah

11/04/2022

11/04/2022

LAST DAY
So today we left the hotel promptly at the agreed departure time of 0730.
At 0731 we lost sight of Mark and Stas. It turns out that Stas has lost his specs and is rummaging. In true Top Gear fashion we did some hand wringing and pressed on. Of course we all offered up our best suggestions, and Andy helpfully posited that he check his head. So we haven’t seen them all day, not least because we ended up on different roads.
13 hours on (20:30) and we are homing in on Calais having lorded it at Burger King.
The weather has been absolutely superb, we are so lucky.
Our slow freight tickets have been changed for us too. We now have the much faster (hopefully) regular train flexi tickets (thank you so much Alison).
Looking forward to Blighty. We can almost sense the potholes and tailbacks.

11/04/2022

Folk lining up at the refugee centre to see what we had brought. Word is out

11/04/2022

We left Wroclaw on time and a long hack home now awaits.
The Doubletree Hilton was a superb and welcome sight for sore eyes for our over night stop.
Despite Jeremy having come fully prepared and geared up for a long session in the spa he didn’t have time. Such a shame.

11/04/2022

WOW WOW WEE WOW!!!!
Ridiculous amount of donated money on the gofundme page. Thank you.
https://gofund.me/040d669c

11/04/2022

Kind messages have already been received from our lovely Polish friends. Urszula says that everything was just perfect, all that they asked for and boxed labelled and ready to go is proving to be an enormous benefit.
A huge thanks go to each and every person who involved themselves in incredible challenge.
A special mention must go to the logistics team who coordinated the complex arrangements and information distribution.
Well done again.