Who We Are | savingukraine2022

After the Second World War a large number of people came to Britain from Ukraine seeking sanctuary.

A large number came to live and work in Halifax and throughout West Yorkshire. Now many second and third generation descendants of those original refugees are proudly supporting Saving Ukraine 2022. Most still have relatives living in the war torn country so for them the horror of what is happening is especially painful.

Our appeal began when the daughter of one of them opened her house in Halifax the week after the war began and was overwhelmed at the generosity of the people of Calderdale and further afield.

Within two days enough was donated, collected, sorted and packed to fill a huge articulated lorry. Their achievement was highlighted on Channel 5’s programme Ukraine How You Can Help when Yorkshire singer and television personality Jane MacDonald came to the house to send that first wagon on its way. It was to be the first of many.

As the donations grew and thanks to the staggering support and generosity of the Hall family, an entire floor of Europe’s largest industrial mill Dean Clough in the heart of Halifax became a thriving hub for our team of volunteers, which has now swelled to more than 200.

Every week wagons, lorries and vans leave the hub filled with vital aid thanks to the logistics team at Leo group, an established exporter led by Danny Sawrij whose father escaped from Ukraine during World War II, and who established the Halifax business which is now named in his honour.

Aid is not easy to get in and out of Ukraine so a small group, sponsored by the Leo Group and representing Saving Ukraine 2022, visited both humanitarian agencies in Poland and aid centres within Ukraine to establish strong links with a number of organisations and perhaps more importantly Ukrainian government run depots in Lviv

Our aid is getting through because we made sure it would. We work with people inside Ukraine to meet their ever changing needs. and where we can’t get huge articulated lorries into the most devastated cities our brave volunteers and drivers take it in by van, in particular vital food and medical supplies.

We have already shipped more than ten thousand boxes, a hundred thousand ready meals, and desperately needed water and medical supplies. And we pledge to continue until every need is met and the country is both free and rebuilt.