Ukraine: Eccleshall woman 'speechless' at outpouring of donations for refugees

Sarah Redmond (second right) said they were helped by a "band of volunteers"

A family who appealed for essential items for Ukrainian refugees have sent 10 vehicles after a "huge" response.

Sarah Redmond said she had not yet "taken in the scale" of the donations after seeing the 18-tonne truck and nine vans leave for Poland.

Ms Redmond, of Eccleshall, in Staffordshire, said she was "so grateful" for people's support.

Her father Michael Kowalewski, who was a refugee from Poland in World War Two, was proud of the response, she said.

"He has huge empathy with the families and children," she said, adding his own experience as a child refugee had "shaped his life".

Mrs Redmond and her husband Mark had recently returned from a holiday in Poland wwhen they began their appeal on Facebook.

"To say that we've been overwhelmed doesn't adequately put a word to it," she said.

"We have had thousands of donations this week from hundreds of people who have come to visit us down at the units in Eccleshall. We have been speechless."

More than 624,500 people have fled Ukraine for Poland since the war began eight days ago, the country's border guard agency said.

The appeal has now closed and the items sent to Poland

The couple originally wanted to send one van to join a response from London, but had to "rethink" the plan because of the scale of donations.

She said vehicles had now left for a distribution centre in Croydon.

A "bank of volunteers" stepped in, she added, to help with sorting packaging and labelling in Eccleshall.

"All that Mark and I have done is just open the door to allow this amazing community to absolutely shine," she said.

She added they were pleased to have "made a small contribution" in the face of a "huge humanitarian crisis".

Thousands of refugees have fled Ukraine for Poland

Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [e-mail]