To reinforce the terrific work being done by Marek and Margie, I hope no-one minds if I pass on a message from my Northern Irish friend who settled in Lviv a few years ago. Please note especially his comments about transportation:"I am still safe, still calm, and more determined than ever to stay here and do what little I can to help the brave, defiant people of Ukraine to secure their great nation.We are working with various organisations in the UK, USA, Poland and Ukraine to expedite the delivery of humanitarian aid. We have been provided with a very detailed list of the priority items, and they are needed very urgently. Some of the items are highly specialised and very ambitious, but if you don't ask you don't get, and somebody always knows somebody.A massive amount of humanitarian aid has already been collected in the UK, our biggest issue now is transportation. If anybody has any contacts in this area, we urgently need to talk to them. Large teams are working here in Ukraine to take delivery, sort, and re-distribute. If there are still people who wish to make financial donations, we will try to find the most secure way to collect cash to pay for haulage.With transportation being such an issue, another way that people could help if they have time, is with the sorting, prioritising, re-packing and labelling of collections. It is vital that the urgent things get here first. Anyone with the time and will to do this should contact their local collection point directly.We are also working with local authorities here to speed up the border crossing. Customs clearance is being waived, we are now focusing on getting permission for any transport we send to by-pass the queues.People in Northern Ireland, I know that the various political parties are collecting at their offices. Feel free to list alternatives in the comments.In GB, there are many offices of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, although I am sure you will be able to find many local options for drop-off. Similarly in the US.It is easy to become emotive over TV footage of children in refugee camps. There is no doubt that life is uncomfortable at this moment. But those who have made it to the EU, they are safe now, and will be taken care of by their new hosts. It is the people who are still in Ukraine who need the most help, and they are our priority.I can't set [my Facebook page] to share unfortunately, I need to protect my own security. But feel free to cut and paste and share as widely as possible.Many thanks for your continued support.слава Україні! Все буде добре!"He also appended a detailed list of items they need - I'll add it in a following post.
Richard Cathcart ● 1664d