Fire service staff donate to help communities in Ukraine

Fire service staff are donating winter survival packs to communities of Ukraine as the world unites to support them during this period of displacement and invasion.

Ben Sourbutt, Prevent Delivery Lead at the service, saw an appeal being run by a local restaurant - Agie and Katie’s – when he decided to help.

Agnieska Biernat and Kate Sitko, who run the restaurant and are Polish, received the donations from Ben on Thursday (3 March).

These included 100 winter warm packs which include: thermal blankets, hats, gloves and socks, thermal flasks and hot water bottles.

Ben also donated sanitary products and nappies.

Now, Ben and his colleagues are looking to get support from the local community in Stoke-on-Trent to assist in getting the donations over the border in Poland.

Ben, who is from the Moorlands, said: “With everything that has been going on, we wanted to make sure we made a contribution to support the communities who have been displaced and are in need of help.

“Now we need to organise logistics and get these donations across to Poland, ideally in an HGV, so that people arriving there can access them.”

Anyone who would like to help or find out more information is advised to visit https://en-gb.facebook.com/AGIEandKATIErestaurant.

For more information on how Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service can help your community, visit: Your Safety (staffordshirefire.gov.uk).