Donations collected in Northumberland sent off to help Ukrainian refugees

More than 550 palettes of humanitarian aid was sorted and stored at the Northumbria Healthcare NHS manufacturing and innovation hub in Seaton Delaval.

Northumbria Healthcare joined forces with local communities and Newcastle’s Polish Centre to support the efforts to get much needed aid to Ukraine and refugees in Poland.

Around 20 articulated lorries left the facility to transport the clothing, toiletries, baby food, nappies, medical supplies and more donated by people across Northumberland, North Tyneside, and Newcastle, currently being taken to the Polish border with Ukraine.

And among the items were 2,700 blankets made by staff at the hub, which makes vital PPE for the trust and other NHS trusts around the country.

Sarah Rose, divisional director for Northumbria Healthcare NHS manufacturing and innovation hub, said they were delighted to help and would again in the future if needed.

She said: “We have quite a lot of warehouse space here, and could clear some things out short term to create this area for the donations.

"We asked those at Newcastle’s Polish Centre whether we could accommodate them with their collections as they had far in excess of what they imagined and had been using a couple of church halls and garages.

"With the warehouse, it meant they had space to sort through the donations and box everything together, plus we had equipment and forklift trucks to help load the palettes onto lorries.

“We’re still manufacturing textile products for the NHS, so most of the staff volunteered their time to make blankets.

"It was really emotional seeing it all packed up and go. Everyone wanted to help the cause in some way.

"It’s a fraction of what is needed but we wanted to contribute and make a bit of difference. It means such a lot to the staff that they can play their part.”

Sarah added: “It’s been a tough couple of years with Covid and this is another example of how people rally together to help others.

"We’re proud to have been involved in it.

"We wanted to thank everybody for their help. Without everybody’s contributions it wouldn’t have happened.”

Also involved was Wojciech Ploszaj, who was born in South East Poland in 1993 about 40 miles from the Ukrainian border.

Wojciech, a design engineer at Michell Bearings in South Shields, is a councillor for Kitty Brewster ward in Blyth and a cabinet member with a business portfolio for Northumberland County Council.

Wojciech has received calls of help and support form people he knows who live in Poland and are witnessing first hand the volume of people coming to Poland for refuge.

Speaking last week about the donations received across Northumberland, he said: “We have been absolutely overwhelmed by the public’s generosity, so much so that we quickly ran out of room to store these desperately-needed items.”

More than two million people have fled Ukraine since Russian troops invaded last month.