A Ukraine collection will move out of Ledbury Market House in just over a week’s time.
Volunteers have been using the town’s most iconic building to store donated items for the past month.
The appeal started at Pacific Dove Clothing but quickly overwhelmed the shop in The Homend, leading to Ledbury Town Council offering the use of the Market House for storage.
Thousands of essential items have since been boxed up and sent off to Ukraine thanks to the support of individuals and businesses from across Ledbury.
“The council have been very kind to lend us the Market House for a month now but they need to use the building for other events and for their meetings,” said Julia Kravchenko, who has been helping to organise the appeal. “We can’t really push it any further.
“I’m so grateful to everyone who donated and helped our Ukrainian appeal. The support has been unbelievable from the council, local organisations and the Ledbury community.
“I’ve had several messages to my private Facebook page from my Ukrainian friends, who say they want to thank everyone in Ledbury and the UK government for their help and support.
Last day for donations at Ledbury Market House
“We will be using the Market House for the donations until April 16, so we have a bit of time to push for donations.”
Volunteers have struggled to find other premises in Ledbury that are accessible and can be rented free of charge, so will begin to concentrate on fundraising rather than sorting and collecting.
“We can’t carry on doing that forever and the volume of donations is not as big as it was at the beginning,” said Julia.
“But the war is not over by a long way, unfortunately, and people still need things. So where we can we will still take donated items to Hereford and Gloucester.
“And when people start arriving in Herefordshire, they will also need things. We will consider appealing for those items when the time comes.
“It’s been quite a challenging time and we’ve been in this from the first day, but everyone has been doing their best.”
You can find an updated list of urgently need items and more information on how to help on the Ledbury Ukraine Aid Facebook group.
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