Cleator Moor’s community have donated over £190,000-worth of supplies to help people affected by the Ukraine war.
Nina Albertelli, manager of Wath Brow Hornets Gym, was instrumental in pulling together the donations after being introduced to Polish-born Bart Mikolajczyk, a primary care paramedic in Copeland, who was aware of Ukrainians directly in need of aid in his homeland.
They set about organising donations to be left at the Flimby headquarters of engineering firm Forth – but it soon became clear that there wasn’t enough space in the office there and the company opened up a larger area at its warehouse in Cleator Moor’s Leconfield Industrial Estate.
As a result, 1,236 boxes of donations were sorted, packed, described, tagged and delivered to Poland in 10 vanloads. It is estimated that more than £192,000-worth of items were delivered.
The goods donated included:
- 154,000 meals, snacks and baby milk;
- 42,000 packs of nappies;
- 157,000 packs of baby wipes;
- 1,170 sleeping bags;
- 640 sleeping mats;
- 950 first aid kits.
As the vehicles were about to depart the town, they were blessed by the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, who was visiting the county for the first time since enthronement, and the Bishop of Carlisle the Rt Rev James Newcome.
The Archbishop said: “When I visited Cumbria, I witnessed vans laden with goods and medical supplies that were being driven to a refugee camp for Ukrainian people in Poland. The community had really come together and responded to the needs of others.
“We may think what difference does my contribution make, but everything we can give or do to help others shows them that someone cares, someone is thinking of them and they are not forgotten. We have it within our power to show love and kindness where we can, recognising we are one humanity.”
Nina added: “Watching the war in Ukraine was heartbreaking for me. My family are from Italy and I was thinking if this was happening over there, I would want to help so I thought why wouldn’t I want to help Ukrainians.
“I started to collect supplies at the gym but the donations started rolling in and it was clear we needed more space, and that is when Forth got involved and they’ve been amazing in helping us pull everything together.
“With the help of the community, an army of volunteers and drivers, we were amazed to have sent 10 vans full to the rafters of supplies at an estimated cost of £192,000.
