TWO lorries filled with donations kindly provided by the Cumbrian public are currently making their way to Poland for Ukrainians who have fled their country.
An outstanding 34 tonnes of items, from toys and nappies to medical and sanitary items, have been transported by A.W. Jenkinson trucks from Whinfell Park near Penrith to the haulage company’s Sittingbourne depot in Kent. The lorries will then be transported on the ferry to Calais.
From Calais, they will travel through Belgium and Germany before arriving in Poland where the items will be handed over to a charity supporting those injured or displaced by the Ukraine conflict.
Speaking about how the company got involved, A.W. Jenkinson’s Media Manager, Sara Valentin said: “We decided to help after seeing how things were getting progressively worse in Ukraine and thought that we’d like to help out. As a haulage company, that’s what we do.
“We spoke to the Ukrainian camp in Lockerbie, as well as shop owner Krystian Klicki and offered our assistance with their endeavours.”
Krystian, with his partner Adela, runs Polish Shop Dino, and owns four branches in Carlisle, Maryport, Dumfries and Barrow.
To help gather all the donations, he has had collection points at different areas of the county.
Krystian, 47, came to Britain in 2006 and worked as a machinery operator on a building site. He became involved in providing donations when he was asked to transport boxes to Poland. He then reached out to people online for assistance.
While people all over the county, country and world are doing what they can for the people of Ukraine, a local businessman, Krystian not only asked for people to provide food and goods for those who have fled into Poland, but also ensured that the goods got to them as soon as possible.
"They are our brothers and sisters," he said.
"I live in the UK now, but I am from Poland and our country shares a border with Ukraine.
"Today it is Ukraine. Tomorrow history could repeat itself - it could be Poland.
“People from this area are amazing. Just because I started something lots of people came forward to help.”
READ MORE: 'We donate as much as possible' - The charity helping Ukraine
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