Easingwold-based manufacturer, ITP Ltd, is supporting war-torn Ukraine with the sponsorship of a 40ft articulated lorry transporting aid to those in need.
The company, which specialises in protective membranes for the construction industry, has teamed up with a Thirsk-based aid and fundraising initiative, Yorkshire to Ukraine, to organise a cargo of essential items taken to Eastern Europe by Yorkshire-based haulier, Bryan Yeardley Logistics. ITP has donated £3,500 to meet the cost of transportation and is inviting the local community to bring cartons of donated items to its premises on Stillington Road, YO61 3FA.
Donations can be brought to ITP from Monday to Friday between 8am to 5pm until the end of the month. Over the coming weeks, ITP will be taking a series of batches to Marrtree Business Park in Thirsk, where a Yorkshire to Ukraine collection centre has been set up in unit 7.
ITP’s sponsored lorry will depart from the collection centre and travel to Poland or Bulgaria, where the goods will be offloaded and taken to Ukraine. Donations suitable for transportation include canned and dry foods, baby formula, nappies, baby wipes, towels, bedding and blankets, sleeping bags, camping mats, thermal clothes, torches, batteries, power banks, painkillers, cold remedies, pastilles, Sudocrem, first aid kits, bandages, antiseptic, sanitary products, soaps, shower gels, shampoos and other hygiene products. Non-thermal clothes will also be accepted as donations and sold by Yorkshire to Ukraine, with all proceeds going to refugee aid.
ITP managing director, Marc van der Voort, said: “We are horrified at the devastation in Ukraine and we wanted to do something to help the people suffering out there. Annie Drew, in our accounts department, has been leading the initiative but the Yorkshire to Ukraine truck is a collective effort, with vital contributions from various organisations. We are grateful to Bryan Yeardley Logistics and to Andy Walker for providing the Yorkshire to Ukraine collection facility. Our truck will be the sixth articulated lorry to take aid from his centre, which has already collected and dispatched 100 tonnes of aid to date.”
Once the truck arrives in Poland, a firm of solicitors coordinates the distribution of donations which are taken on vans to the border. The vans will then enter Ukraine and return with refugees.
Annie said: “ITP are welcoming donations of all sizes from individuals, businesses and community groups. We are asking donors to mark the contents on their cartons as this will help with the distribution of items. The donations will be transported in more than one delivery, with the first load expected to go out within the next two weeks and the second load likely to go out a few weeks later to Poland or Romania. People and businesses in and around Thirsk are also welcome to deliver donations directly to the Yorkshire to Ukraine collection centre, where over 200 volunteers have been giving up their time to sort, label, weigh, manifest and pallet a fantastic amount of donations.”
