ShelterBox sending team to help people in Ukraine

ShelterBox already has experience of working in Ukraine, staff say

Cornwall disaster relief charity ShelterBox is sending a team to eastern Europe to help people in Ukraine, bosses have said.

Initially the team will be working out what type of emergency shelter people fleeing Ukraine need.

That work would include determining if its aid would be suitable and which locations staff might be able to work in, the charity said.

Staff were co-ordinating with local authorities and aid organisations "to make sure as many people as possible will receive the help they need", it added. 

The charity said it was "deeply concerned for families in Ukraine fleeing their homes in below-freezing temperatures" and "people leaving must be able to do so safely".

Alice Jefferson, from the charity, said the team will be "flying out in the next day or two".

She said: "They will be liaising with different contacts and trying to understand the rapidly-changing situation and making decisions with us on what the best response is."

Shelterbox was set up in 2000 in Helston, Cornwall, originally delivering green boxes containing essential items, such as a stove and a tent, for people in disaster areas.

In 2014, it started providing shelter kits which contain "all of the essential tools people need to start repairing and rebuilding homes".

It already had experience of working in Ukraine, assisting when there were floods in 2003 and 2008, and carrying out assessments in 2014 following the outbreak of the conflict in the Donbas region, staff said.