Helping Ukraine – from the little house with the flagpole

Andy and Ann Hawkins immediately rallied when the invasion of Ukraine first hit the news in the UK.

  “There was no way we could sit at home watching this situation unfold without doing something
              to help in some small way”

Within a few hours, the seemingly unassuming little house with the flagpole had turned into a major local donation point for receiving donations of aid.

“It was important for us to do something to help local residents in Fillongley and Corley to
              conveniently drop off items to help the people of Ukraine”

Aid Link Between Coventry and Birmingham

Conveniently situated in Tile Hill Lane, Coventry and Station Road, Marston Green the three locations form a convenient straight line aid link between Coventry and Birmingham.

Andy explains ” My wife Ann is home most of the time so we aren’t limited with what time people can deliver to us whereas the offices are only open Monday to Friday from 9.00 until 5pm only.

The first delivery was a local resident who read our appeal on Facebook whilst at a Lexus garage. When she told the service department about it they gave her £30 to buy items for the appeal.

Next came 6 boxes from a Coventry based Scooter Club, full to the brim with nappies, toiletries, wipes and pet foods amongst other essential items.

Generosity Iceberg

This was the tip of the generosity iceberg and combined with the donations received at the offices we very quickly realised we would need expert help to ensure that the goods reached those in need. We are a family based funeral directors of 15 years standing so caring for families is what we do, distributing aid into Europe was not something we had ever done so we asked for appropriate help: its horses for courses so to speak”

Dogbus work for animals in that part of Europe everyday of the year so it made sense to distribute all of the food donations through them.

Coventry Comfort Carers have been working in Coventry for many years but have aided many humanitarian efforts around the World so their contacts and expertise have been invaluable in ensuring that the aid collected locally has been correctly listed and packed and made safe passage directly into the heart of the camps and communities where it is best needed.

The first load left less than five days after we collected and collated it all and the second load left a couple of days later (at the time of writing it is due at the border area any time now)

Reports from these experienced drivers say that albeit well meaning aid vehicles without the necessary clearances and paperwork have either been refused passage from the UK or worse still been refused entry into the border camps and they have seen loads dumped by the roadside.

This is why it was essential to us that every load is sent with experts who can ensure it gets through.

“On my Way”

Having the unwavering network of support of organisation’s like these really gave us the impetus to drive this forward and that’s when the donations increased exponentially to a point where on our next delivery I am hoping to go myself.

I would value your prayers for a safe journey and you can follow my progress on the local Facebook pages, on BBC CWR Radio and on our website www.franklinfunerals.co.uk

We are very much being directed by the feedback from the drivers arriving in the camps and border areas and by our distribution colleagues as to what items are needed at any one time, hence we have concentrated on medical supplies just recently although personal care items are also needed daily.
Please check out our online appeals on the Fillongley and Corley Facebook pages, our own Company website and on Ann’s hastily written signs at the gate.

It appears that there is a scheme being launched in the UK to accommodate refugees. We don’t yet know the details but it may be that our donation needs change again when that happens so please look out for updates.

We would like to thank each and every person who has donated every single item to our appeal so far.

Via the little  house with the flagpole you have truly made a difference to those in desperate need.

Ann