Supporting Ukraine
Thank you for Sleeping Bags!
A few weeks back, we asked you to rally together to collect sleeping bags to send to a church in Western Ukraine who are supporting refugees fleeing to the border. 4 days later 1,356 sleeping bags arrived at the Kerith Centre ready to be sent!
An army of online delivery drivers arrived during the week including a pallet from Highlander Outdoors who dropped the price of their sleeping bags just for us, as well as KeenFlex who donated 150 kids’ sleeping bags! We heard stories of neighbours gathering bags from their roads, school mums sending the message round on WhatsApp groups, people signposted to us after shout outs in their local pubs, a film crew dropping off blankets from the set of a Hollywood blockbuster, and we even had the local news turn up! A huge thank you to everyone who purchased new sleeping bags, laundered pre-loved ones, dropped them off, got them mail-ordered, got the message out there, helped sort, prep, box, weigh and palletise them. The sleeping bags came to 23 pallets and 2.6 tonnes, they were surrounded in prayer and cleared both the UK and Polish customs. They have now safely arrived with the AOG church in Western Ukraine ready to be handed out to those in need of them.
Giving to Ukraine going forward
As we watch the events unfolding in Ukraine we are looking as a church to continue responding to the need. Whilst we suspect we will no longer be sending physical goods over, money will be key to supporting the situation. We have therefore set up a specific Ukraine Appeal Fund and are developing our response looking to be involved in three areas:
In Ukraine - we will look to partner with churches and individuals doing relief work on the ground within Ukraine.
On the borders - we will partner with churches and other organisations working on the borders of Ukraine caring for the refugees fleeing the country.
In the UK - we will look to play our part in refugees being welcomed to the UK.
Given the fluidity of the situation we are still working on exactly who to partner with, but all of the money given will be in a restricted fund and used in one of the three areas.
We would also encourage you to consider giving to the UK DEC appeal - Tearfund is a great Christian charity who are a part of this and who we have worked with for many years. You can find more details and make a donation to Tearfund here.
Supporting New Arrivals from Ukraine in the UK
Watching the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Ukraine right now, many of us are wondering what we can do to help. The Sanctuary Foundation invites you to join us to make a real difference to the lives of Ukrainian people.
The details of the government scheme to support Ukrainian refugees in the UK are being developed at pace and we are committed as a church to help where we can. We’ve signed up to be a sponsor community with The Sanctuary Foundation pledging to welcome refugees into our community. You can also sign up as an individual, a community group, a business or family as a potential sponsor and can help in a breadth of potential ways including:
Welcoming a Ukrainian family to live in your community
Finding and possibly furnishing suitable accommodation
Raising of support funds (in previous sponsorships this has been £1k - 9k per family)
Befriending and integration support through volunteering your time (e.g. helping families sign up for schools, GP’s, navigating life in the UK etc)
If you’re interested in putting yourself forward as a potential sponsor, you can express your interest through their website.