A LORRY full of medical supplies and other items donated to help refugees and casualties of the war in Ukraine left Bridgwater earlier this month.
Bridgwater Rotary Club teamed up with Notaro Windows and haulage and distribution company RT Keedwell to collect, sort, and deliver aid to people affected by the conflict.
With support from other rotary and inner wheel clubs, Bridgwater Rotary Club received, sorted, and packed products donated by businesses and individuals from across Somerset at a warehouse and loading facility provided by Notaro.
The RT Keedwell Group provided the vehicle and met all insurance, customs paperwork, and driver costs, and Western Fuels covered the fuel costs.
The organisations also collected more than £10,000 in cash donations.
Some of the money was used to buy more supplies to send to Ukraine, and some of the money was sent to rotary clubs on the ground in Ukraine and Poland to help them support people affected by the war.
The lorry left Bridgwater on Sunday, April 3, and the equipment and resources were delivered via rotary clubs in Ukraine and neighbouring countries including Poland, Moldova, Hungary, and Slovakia.
Lyndon Brett, this year's president of Bridgwater Rotary Club, said: “We extend our thanks to all of those who contributed to this fantastic collective effort to support people in Ukraine, and particularly to our main partners in the project without whom this wouldn’t have been possible.
“We are proud that in some small way we have been able to do something positive to help the refugees and casualties in Ukraine”.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy told his citizens yesterday they should be proud surviving 50 days of Russian attack when the Russians “gave us a maximum of five”.
In his late-night video address to the nation, Mr Zelenskyy called it “an achievement of millions of Ukrainians, of everyone who on February 24 made the most important decision of their life – to fight”.
Since Russia launched its invasion, the conflict has killed untold numbers of Ukrainian civilians and forced millions more to flee.
Read more: Bridgwater Rotary Club and firms raise £10,000 after launching Ukraine appeal
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