Centre in Cornwall thanks the community for mountains of donations for Ukraine
The centre in St Blazey are having to slow donations after generosity has been 'humbling' and 'overwhelming'
Last updated 3rd May 2022
Donations are still being welcomed at St Blazey Recycle, after a successful collection service in the town near St Austell.
After closing their warehouse for a week and putting all of their efforts into humanitarian aid, donated by local residents, they now focus on a couple of days where people can drop items in.
In 6 days, they turned around 39 full pallets, equal to around one and a half lorries.
Pauline Giles, Cornwall Councillor for St Blazey and Chair of Cornwall Council, is one of the organisers alongside her husband.
She said: "We (now) have Toiletry Tuesdays and Food Fridays, where people can drop items in, this way we can control the goods and pack as we go, without it impacting on our core business.
"We all understand with the cost of living going up, people can’t keep giving, so we’d like to say thank you for everyone’s generosity, it certainly made a massive difference at the start, Cornwall were there with aid whilst the big charities were still trying to organise themselves".
At the start of their journey collecting donations, piles came in for people in Ukraine which were then sent over in trucks and lorries.
It came alongside other donation centres across the St Austell area, as people all over the county open their hearts to raise money and send aid to people living in conflict.
Pauline told us: "We got a young lady to translate for us into Ukrainian and on every label it says 'Sending love and support to you all, from your friends in Cornwall, UK' and I think that's quite heartwarming.
"Every pallet we send also has an A4 St Piran's flag on it, we also have little stickers with the Ukrainian flag with the Cornish flag inside it.
We just wanted to tell them that we support you, we love you and we'll do anything we can to help you".
The donation supply was sent and tracked on its journey so followers of their Facebook page can see where their donations are heading.
Pauline, the main organiser, has been overwhelmed with the response from people across the Duchy.
She said: "Near enough from the get go when the war started, we thought there needed to be some sort of aid. It was turning into mountains and it was really hard to get on top of things.
"People want to know that their donations are going somewhere and will make a difference.
"We've stopped taking clothes and we've sent maybe 400 sleeping bags. We were counting in little boxes and we think nearly 5000 toothbrushes have gone.
"In the grand scheme of things, we think, wow, 5000, but when you think about there are two million people who've been displaced already, that's just a small drop in the ocean aren't they".
At the warehouse, they're still collecting medical supplies, nappies, sanitary wear, first aid kits, sleeping bags and blankets.
Pauline continued: "There's a mountain of clothes on the border at the moment that they are struggling to shift. We're recyclers and we don't want anything to go to waste so we've stopped taking clothes.
"We're going to slow down what we take, we're still taking things but we're going to be a little bit more specific".
The volunteers have already collected and sorted through thousands of items, spending hours each day organising through black sacks of donated goods.
She said: "The amount of stuff that's been given has been absolutely humbling. St Blazey is one of the poorer areas of Cornwall and people have still reached in their pockets, it's been absolutely amazing".
St Blazey Recycle Reuse Resale CIC continues to work with struggling families, undertaking house clearances and collections. Anyone wishing to donate, can call Dave on 07564751570
You can find more details about the St Blazey donation centre on their Facebook page.