Rotary Clubs across District 1040, in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, and Inner Wheel District 4 Clubs have continued to take action to support Ukraine. You will already have seen in the March addition of Sharing Rotary Stories the amazing results from so many clubs across the District. Our thanks go to all these clubs and the many more that are working tirelessly to collect and raise much needed resources.
To date, 8 April 2022, we have received £78,900 from Rotary Club donations, £6,400 from Inner Wheel Club and £5,200 from private donors. Additionally, we have heard from many more clubs that they have raised money and collected items which have been sent directly to local clubs in the Ukraine and border countries like Poland.
Thank you to all Clubs that have already sent donations through either your own contacts or through the District Charity Account. Please keep sending your photos and reports to John Hodge for the monthly updates.
Working through our long-standing contacts in the Ukraine and Slovakia we send an initial £30,000 to the Rotary Club of Kosice, Eastern Slovakia in March. We have now received reports and photographs back on how the money is being spent, see below:
"About 280 thousand Ukrainian refugees stay in Slovakia and the same number of refugees are remaining at the other side of the border, in Uzhgorod city and Transcarpathia region of Ukraine. At the moment the everyday flow of refugees has decreased, but most of them are needy seniors and mothers with children, who need everyday care. About 15% of refugees do not find the privilege of living in apartments or family houses, they sleep in school gyms, leisure and sports centres. A lot of families escaped from their homes with only 1 bag, without money and they even do not have a possibility to work.
Rotarians from the neighbouring cities of Košice (Eastern Slovakia) and Uzhgorod (Western Ukraine) have focused on improving their living conditions and providing refugees with everything they need. We are very grateful for the financial support provided by the British Rotarians. We use the funds provided by you for the purchase of food, medicine, hygiene products, beds with mattresses. A small part of the funds is spent on the purchase of fuel for the transportation of purchased goods to Ukraine. The budget for these purchases is about 150,000 euros per month. The financial report on the use of the received funds will be provided to you by the treasurers of partner clubs in the near future.
The Rotary Clubs of Kosice and Uzhgorod are also engaged in transhipment of goods in 4 local warehouses from Western Europe to Eastern part of Ukraine. In a month we have processed and sent more than 1,500 tons of cargo to hotspots by trucks and trains. Despite the help of volunteers, it is also necessary to spend large sums on a daily basis. We are still short of funds because the amount of assistance we need is much larger than we can afford.
Ukrainian people heroically defend their country from the invaders at the front and support each other in the rear. But they need more humanitarian aid to be provided on a daily basis to survive and to stop the war. Let us help them together. Thank you very much! Stand with Ukraine!"
Given the reports back and the regular contact that is being maintained between
Rtn Robert Deakin and Rtn Andriy Baganich, Executive Secretary of RC Kosice, Slovakia, PDG District 2230 2207/2008, we have sent a further £20,000 this week. Once we have further reports back we will review again and send further amounts if required, based on need.
We also have well established rotary contacts, through Rtn Christine Dagwell-Thompson (Assistant Governor, North Lincs) and Rtn Krassimir Valchev, past President of the RC of Danube Rousse, Bulgaria. They are also on the front line of receiving refugees and have committed to supplying 1750 - 2000 Euro’s a month to help the three organisations they have worked with before and know they can trust. Rtn Christine is in regular contact with Rtn Krassimir, who is hopeful that clubs in England, or our District, maybe able to help the RC Danube Rousse extend their efforts and broaden their reach. Historically the RC Hull worked with them on two Matching Grant projects which were completed very satisfactorily and efficiently. The three organisations they are currently helping:
At the moment they provide accommodation and food for more than 50 refugees. Their promised aid for them in the coming three months is 500BGN a fortnight (twice a month).
Rtn Krassimer Valchev goes on to say:
“that the amount of our aid is not big but we're assured by the above organisations it's very useful indeed!
Note: Maybe it's not so important but I'd like to inform you that for all of our contributions our club will receive the certificate for donation and the corresponding papers for the exact expenditures.
Based on these facts and the long-standing relationship between the two countries we have agreed to send £5,000 initially to support the RC of Danube Rousse in their work.
Alongside the monies already distributed, we are exploring the possibility of applying for disaster response grants for more local projects, supporting refugees arriving in our local communities and the possibility of working with fire aid to offer training for refugees on the Ukraine borders, in established camps in order to keep themselves safe going forward.”
Rtn Christine reports “Inner Wheel members are running language classes and crèches as well as helping at the Sports Centre which has been taken over to provide necessities for the refugees." Here are some message and images:
Shelterbox
We know that many clubs are also supporting ShelterBox. This continues to be a quickly moving situation. For the latest updates please visit the Shelter Box site: Emergency Disaster Relief - ShelterBox
Thank you to all Rotary and Inner Wheel Clubs for working together quickly to make a real difference. It is clear now we will need to continue these efforts to support Ukraine for many months and years to come.
Please can we urge all Clubs that are sending donations through their own contacts to also send reports through to District Governor Stephen Ellis, myself or John Hodge for Sharing Rotary Stories along with our website and social media. All our contact details can be found via: Support Team Contact - Rotary District 1040 (ylrotary.org.uk)
Thank you to all Rotary and Inner Wheel Clubs for working together quickly to make a difference. It is clear now we will need to continue these efforts to support Ukraine for many months and years to come.
We recognise that all clubs are doing an amazing job and that many clubs are still busy collecting. We also know that alongside immediate aid, intermediate and longer-term help will be needed. For these reasons we have agreed to extend the appeal until 30th April 2022, when we will review again.
David Robinson our District Treasurer will collect any donations. If you do not have his contact details, then again please see the drop-down menu of this website: Support Team Contact - Rotary District 1040 (ylrotary.org.uk)
Thank you.
Carol Jordan
District 1040 International Chair