We''re now busy planning our 7th delivery of food and medical supplies to Ukraine in March. We are collecting donations to help us provide food, medical supplies, candles, torches and Easter Gift boxes for refugee children. We also want to buy protective flak jackets for the Ukrainian volunteers who are so bravely delivering these supplies to front line communities in Donetsk and Lukhansk Oblasts.

We have already made six trips to southern Poland, taking over 14 tonnes of food and medical supplies, which are then driven across the border to the Kyiv Heart Institute and to communities in near Sumy, Kherson, Bakhmut and Liman and Donetsk - right on the front line of this brutal invasion. Over the winter we also supplied 37 generators to these communities and also helped a charity for deaf people in Odesa, providing torches and battery packs to help them continue to sign to each other in the darkness of the black-outs.

There are videos on our Facebook site showing the supplies being delivered - https://www.facebook.com/HelpingUkrainesSurgeons They are a very grim reminder of the shocking devastation across Ukraine and the plight of its people.

We are now planning another large delivery in time for Easter and are actively seeking more donations of food, medical supplies and money to pay for these. We are also keen to hear from any organisation that could act as a collection point for food donations.

We have also been helping fund camps for Ukrainian children who are now refugees in Poland. The first was held in mid-June and was designed to offer some respite to children who have fled the war - many of whom will have experienced sheltering from bombs and making dramatic trips across the border and are now living without their fathers and in very cramped conditions. 160 children enjoyed a week of activities and a chance to relax In safety. Our Ukrainian friends in Poland also organised three week-long day camps in southern Poland, helping another 90 children.

Richard Astle and the Organising Team

richard@athene-communications.co.uk

Helping Our Ukrainian Friends