Two women have teamed up to send a 40ft lorry full of presents to children in Ukraine for Christmas.
Amanda Duffy-Brown and Nikki Thompson, who run the Mid Argyll Helps Ukraine appeal, are sending more than 2500
parcels to families displaced by Russian president Vladimir Putin’s invasion. Amanda, 45, from Lochgilphead, and Nikki, 70, from Ardrishaig, in Argyll, have secured a 44-ton truck they’ve dubbed “the Santa lorry”.
The lorry is set to leave for the city of Vinnytsia on Thursday, where parcels will then be distributed throughout Ukraine by volunteers on the ground. The lorry also has pallets of water, food, medical equipment, generators and candles.
Amanda said: “We decided we wanted to run a Santa lorry because we know here we can all sit down to our Christmas dinners, enjoy the Christmas lights and festive season and not worry about war. However, Ukraine is in crisis. Everything is limited at the moment, including water, and there are blackouts 17 hours of the day.
“My heart goes out to them. So we wanted to send gifts to the kids in the hope it would spread a little bit of Christmas cheer and put a smile on some little faces.”
Mum-of-one Amanda launched an appeal on Facebook for humanitarian aid donations in March – just after the war broke out. She teamed up with Nikki and the pair have since sent tons of aid to the country, including more than 7000 boxes. Items including prams, cots, mattresses and furniture.
The pair even managed to send a lorry full of medical supplies, donated by Mid Argyll community hospital in Lochgilphead after a ward closed down, to rehabilitation hospitals across Ukraine. They now hope the gifts aboard the Santa lorry, which have been donated by the local community or bought through donations, will bring festive cheer to the children.
Amanda, who runs D & D’s Wool And Craft store in Lochgilphead, said: “The community has been amazing and since March we have been involved in packing 14 trucks as well as running the last two ourselves along with two lorries, vans and a minibus full of stuff.”
Nikki, a gran of two, added: “The people of Ukraine are well overdue a bit of joy and especially the children. It gives us great pleasure to do that but we couldn’t have done this without the support of the community.”
There will also be 50 baby boxes and items filled by Jacqueline Crawford, who runs The Scot Baby Box Appeal, on the lorry.
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