Liverpool Hope University’s Estates team has joined forces with more than a dozen local suppliers to help orphaned children fleeing Ukraine.
The Estates team are tasked with looking after Hope’s building infrastructure, from planning and construction to everyday maintenance and environmental management.
And through their work across four campuses, the department works hand-in-hand with many other firms to keep Hope operational.
Now Hope and many of those suppliers have come together to build a collection of donated goods to be shipped across Europe to aid vulnerable young children forced to leave Ukraine with their carers to escape the terrifying Russian invasion.
The items being donated include everything from sleeping bags and first aid kits to baby food and nappies.
James Ellison, Director of Estates, says: “The Estates team were keen to support the humanitarian response to the devastating situation in Ukraine and a number of University suppliers were contacted to assist with donations of much needed items.
“A large quantity of first aid kits, burns kits, gloves, sleeping bags, adult and children's thermals, torches, heat pads and medical supplies were collected by the estates team over a number of weeks.
“The University also contributed £500 of funding for additional items to help groups of vulnerable children from Ukrainian orphanages who had to flee indiscriminate bombing with their carers.”
The Charity who will benefit from the donations were referred to the Estates team by Hope’s Dr Taras Khomych, a Senior Lecturer in Theology and priest at Liverpool's Ukrainian Catholic Parish who hails from the Ukrainian city of Lviv.
The charity is part of the Ukrainian Catholic Church of All Saints & Sts Peter Paul, located in Oldham, Greater Manchester, and are actively sending donations to the Lviv Regional Administration base in Rzeszow near the Polish Ukrainian border, where items are then taken into Ukraine.
The charity has stated how there is a ‘massive shortage of infant's baby milk and baby food. Many children from orphanages are stuck in Lviv and they are not being taken out because they have no parents, just carers! For us, they are as valued a group of human beings as those who are more fortunate.’
John Begley, Head of Maintenance at Hope, adds: “We hope that the team's efforts and kind donations from a host of suppliers and individuals will go some way in helping this valuable aid effort.”
The suppliers who put their weight behind the donation drive are:
Kimpton Energy Solutions
Heating Services Northwest
Sterling Electrical Services
Edmundsons Electrical Suppliers
Bagnalls Painting
Knowsley Lifts
Mark Craig Landscapes
Zen Engineering Fire & Security
Nyke Energy
AAC Waterproofing Roofing Contractors
Kosco Interiors
Merseyside Multiglazing
Cu Plas