Ipswich warehouse collecting aid for Ukraine convoy

Hire controller Emma Brandon and Gareth Clements, operations director at Ardent Hire Solutions, are coordinating the delivery of hundreds of mattresses

A Suffolk warehouse is collecting donations for a convoy of lorries taking aid to Ukraine.

About 15 vehicles from the plant and plant hire industry are planning to set off from Thurrock, Essex, on to the continent.

It is part of a humanitarian mission organised by the Plant and Hire Aid Alliance.

Ardent Hire Solutions in Ipswich is stockpiling supplies, including about 300 mattresses.

"We felt compelled to try and help," a spokesman said.

The Plant and Hire Aid Alliance is a group of companies in the industry acting together to support people in Ukraine.

It has worked with Rotary International to find out what items are needed and the lorries are due to leave on 16 October.

Drivers from around the UK will be making a day-long journey to a warehouse in Košice, East Slovakia - close to the Ukrainian border - where supplies will then be distributed by local volunteers.

Mattresses, duvets and medical supplies are among the items being checked, sorted and boxed in Ipswich. On the trip, a left hand-drive van will also be filled with products and left in Slovakia for further use.

About 1,100 mattresses have already been shipped to Ukraine by the alliance

The latest shipment will be the alliance's fifth. Since the spring, it has sent about 250 boxes of aid, 1,100 mattresses, 280 suitcases, 30 tonnes of food and 50 tonnes of medical products.

It is still accepting donations of long-lasting food and baby food, hygiene items, medicines, bandages, crutches, wheelchairs, blankets, duvets, sleeping bags, suitcases, stationery for schoolchildren and winter clothing.

Ardent's operations director, Gareth Clements, said there had been a "fantastic response".

"This could have happened to any of us, we're just fortunate enough that it hasn't," he said.

"And if it had happened to us, I'd like to think that there are other countries that would help us, so I think we felt compelled to try and help.

"It hits you when you see the photographs of people receiving it and you see the children and their families with their suitcases or their new mattress - that's quite heart-warming. It does make a difference.

"We hope it will provide just a little bit of comfort to know that people are supporting Ukraine and we'll continue to do that as long as we can."