A website has been created - printforukraine.co.uk - where you can find printers, signmakers and industry suppliers that have volunteered to receive/collect donations to support the people of Ukraine. A list of required items and of donation points is provided on the site. A Go Fund Me page has also been created and is being managed by Fespa UK, so the organisers can buy additional items and include this in their shipments.
The companies involved will shift donations to a depot in Gravesend, Kent, where Outdoor Logistics UK is providing a hub and onward transport to Poland. The transport effort is also being supported by global logistics provider DSV.
Once in Poland, contacts at volunteer organisations in Lviv, western Ukraine, will begin the process of distributing to those in need.
Vism founder Dan Tyler, who has been instrumental in establishing the network, said: “This has snowballed quite quickly. At the beginning of last” week, I started working with a contact in Lviv to get cash donations to them so they could buy medicines and other essentials.
“We helped a couple of people in the Netherlands and France get some items they’d collected over to Ukraine, and now we’ve ended up working as a team of volunteers in the UK and Europe to shift as much essential stuff over there as possible.”
He continued: “Matt at Outdoor Logistics UK approached me on LinkedIn when he saw something I’d posted, and we quickly realised there were lots of people willing to help and that we could get something going pretty quickly. The guys at DSV jumped in offering help when they saw we needed it and now it’s flying.”