CARING residents and staff at Richmond Villages Wood Norton have come together in an admirable effort to help those displaced in and from Ukraine.
As part of the village’s Ukraine appeal, residents and staff have made a series of donations to Evesham Fire Station’s volunteer team while resident Anne Lunt has been busy selling hand-made butterfly badges to raise funds for the Ukraine appeal.
Over the past two months residents and staff have been collecting clothes and household items to give the team of volunteers at Evesham Fire Station, to support their appeal effort for The Salvation Army.
To date, the village has donated countless bags of goods and are continuing to pull together further contributions.
Sharing how his journey with The Salvation Army began, volunteer firefighter Paul Miles said: “Myself and four of my colleagues at Evesham Fire Station all came together to initially send a few boxes to the Ukraine appeal in the hope we’d help raise a few smiles.
“After collecting ten boxes, we instantly wanted to collect more and so when we put our efforts on social media, word spread in the community and more donations came flooding in.
“We’re very grateful for the kind donations from Richmond Villages Wood Norton which have helped us deliver a total of 400 boxes from the local community for The Salvation Army.
“Despite myself and the team’s 28-hour journey to the border, it is completely worth it to see how many people we have and continue to help.”
Alongside the village’s support for The Salvation Army, Anne has made lots of symbolic butterfly silk badges in yellow and blue, in an effort to drive donations for the Ukraine appeal.
Speaking of her efforts to support the Ukraine appeal, Anne said: “It breaks my heart to hear about the current situation in Ukraine and to think of what people in the country are going through.
“I wanted to help in any way I could, so I thought what better way to raise money than putting my silk painting skills to good use. Butterflies seemed like the perfect symbol for those displaced and having to flee and cross borders.
“I’m touched that those in the village have supported my fund-raising efforts and we’re able to donate vital funds to the appeal,” she added.
Both Richmond Villages Wood Norton and Paul Miles, Nick Tuckwell, Martyn Bryant, Aaron Smith, and Mark Coumbs from the Evesham Fire Station team are continuing to support the Ukraine appeal for the foreseeable future.
Visit www.richmond-villages.com/retirement-villages/wood-norton for more.
