The pre-loved baby boxes being sent to Ukraine’s front line
- Published
The charity distributed baby boxes in hospitals in Eastern Ukraine
A Scottish charity is collecting recycled baby boxes for new parents near the front line in Ukraine.
A baby box is free for every newborn child in Scotland and is full of essential items.
The Scot Baby Box Appeal has been collecting aid for Ukrainians since the Russian invasion.
It has now distributed thousands of "pre-loved" boxes and basic goods throughout the country and in refugee camps in Poland.
When war broke out, at the end of February, Airdrie resident Jackie Crawford posted on a local community page hoping to gather donations.
"The next day I woke up to more than 200 messages," she said.
Within a week of the idea forming, a truck, - full of necessities - was en route to Ukraine.
The Scot Baby Box Appeal has since sent tonnes of aid to the country, including more than 4,000 baby boxes.
Most of the donations are sent to Vinnytsia, and then distributed throughout Ukraine by volunteers on the ground.
Scot Baby Box Appeal volunteers will send more aid this week
Ms Crawford said: "Young mums who volunteered were shocked by the pictures they were seeing.
"We saw the wee baby born in the subway station, so we thought we could fill up baby boxes and send them out to help."
She added: "The quality of the donations we're getting has been great.
"Everything is new or [freshly] cleaned; if we wouldn't use it ourselves we wouldn't send it to people in Ukraine.
"The donations are slowing up a bit now, but people are seeing the effects of their donations arriving at the maternity hospitals so they know it's making an impact."
Jackie Crawford started the group after the invasion of Ukraine in February this year
Currently the charity's recycled baby boxes are in about 40 maternity hospitals throughout Ukraine.
Ms Crawford said: "The attitude of all the women who volunteer has been inspiring.
"They are loading the trucks, sorting through the donations and even knitting clothes for these children.
"I think the baby boxes are so much more than aid.
"It takes time to make them up and the whole community can see the effort that goes into it.
"People in Ukraine can see that folk in Scotland care about their wee babies."
The group ranges from young mothers to grandmothers in their eighties.
New parents in Ukraine with their baby box
The charity has also set up a temporary central hub in the Forge Shopping Centre in Glasgow.
Ms Crawford added: "At one point we had about 100 drop-off points in Scotland."
Volunteers have collected large volumes of donations for organisations to distribute on the ground.
Edinburgh-based charity Sunflower Scotland is among the many organisations delivering aid in Ukraine.
The charity's chair, Oleg Dmitriev, works with local volunteers to deliver basic supplies to people in eastern Ukraine, including one village just three kilometres from the frontline.
Oleg Dmitriev with new parents in Chuhuiv Maternity Hospital
The Scot Baby Box Appeal's ninth truck will leave the Forge retail complex, near Glasgow, to help displaced people in Krakov and Ukraine on Friday.
Ms Crawford said the charity had also previously loaded approximately 50 vans for other organisations to distribute.
'Left in limbo'
Last week, Sunflower Scotland delivered baby boxes collected by the Scot Baby Box Appeal to the Chuhuiv Maternity Hospital in Kharkiv Oblast.
The city has endured heavy bombing from Russian forces.
Mr Dmitriev with staff at the Chuhuiv Maternity Hospital
Mr Dmitriev spent eight days delivering aid to towns and villages close to the front line before returning to Scotland.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland's The Sunday Show, he said: "I am scared for the people I met and how they will survive a bad winter.
"Aid is being sent to refugees in the big cities, but not to those people who have been stranded in more remote towns and villages.
"They have been left in limbo.
"People have been living in bomb shelters for months.
"They are still living there now, but they've been forgotten about, and they need our help."