MELKSHAM has been praised for its generosity in response to the crisis in Ukraine.
The response to an appeal for donations of supplies to send to Poland to support Ukrainian refugees, was so overwhelming that the Town Hall was filled and emptied three times. But the donations of clothes, medical supplies and food kept coming, forcing the Town Hall to stop accepting any more.
To help sort the mountains of donations ready for dispatch, dozens of volunteers gave up their time to help at the Town Hall. The town council has been working with local man, Dawid Fedyk, who is the Melksham representative for Wiltshire Donations – a collection of volunteers across the county and surrounding area who are working together to send supplies to Poland.
To date, two lorries, carrying donations from the collection points in Melksham, Westbury, Trowbridge and Frome, have arrived in Poland – and a further three 22-tonne lorries, are due to depart the UK in the coming days.
‘Phenomenal response’
“I never cease to be amazed by the phenomenal response of Melksham residents when we see a humanitarian crisis,” said mayor, cllr Jon Hubbard. “Once again, local people have gone above and beyond to help those in need and to reach out the hand of friendship and care to those who are suffering.
“A special thank you to cllr Saffi Rabey for pushing to make Melksham one of the help points in Wiltshire and to the magnificent team in the Town Hall and all of the volunteers who came in and helped to manage the wealth of donations we received.
“It is at times like this that you are reminded just how special this town and its people are. Thank you to everyone who contributed, to everyone who helped, to everyone who has donated to the various appeals and to everyone who has prayed or otherwise for those so horrendously impacted by the horrific and unjust war in Ukraine.
“All too often we take the freedoms and democratic rights we enjoy in our lives for granted, it is frightening to see those same rights and freedoms being stolen from people who live not so far away.
“Thank you again to everyone, with every gift or donation you make you are reaching out and touching the heart of someone in Ukraine.”
Cllr Saffi Rabey, who suggested that the Town Hall be offered as a place for residents to donate, added, “Never did I envisage when reading the Facebook post from Dawid Fedyk on Saturday 26th February, who was looking for help with a collection point in Melksham, and suggesting perhaps we could help, just what an incredible response we would see from our residents, the team at the Town Hall and all the volunteers.
‘Truly humbling’
“When I walked in on the Monday afternoon of the first day of the collection I was absolutely blown away by the generosity of our town, truly humbling. Over the course of the week, seeing car after car, van after van pulling up, showed just how much our town stands by the people of Ukraine.
“Thank you so much Melksham for the love you have shown and continue to show for all in desperate need. I have no doubt this will be a continuing situation and there will be more calls to help going forward and I know our town will be there stepping up again to help. It is truly heart breaking in 2022 to see a fellow European country under such brutal attack and I was just happy to try and help in whatever way I could.”
The Wiltshire Donations team have been so overwhelmed by people’s generosity, they have paused accepting any more donations until further notice. Instead, they are appealing for more volunteers to help sort through the donations. To find out more information, visit the Wiltshire Donations Facebook page: www.facebook.com/wiltshiredonations
Wiltshire Council’s website also has information on how you can support those affected by the conflict, which includes donating to the Ukraine Disaster Emergency Committee Crisis Appeal. Visit www.wiltshire.gov.uk/support-for-ukraine for more details.
