The efforts of the group has seen it being reported about in the Lancashire Post, Chorley Guardian local newspaper, regional radio and even Granada Reports (TV). As well as welcoming families and guests from the Ukraine, who are now staying locally, the unit has also been visited a couple of times by Chorley MP and Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
From June to October 2022, we created a ‘pop-up shop’ inside our Ukraine unit. Here, our guests from Ukraine could call in to see the volunteers, have a drink, and choose free items to help them get on their feet, such as toiletries, clothes, toys, nappies, etc. If we had something in stock, our guests were welcome to it.
We were able to help people from all across Lancashire and Greater Manchester and by the end of the initiative we had given out the equivalent of 219 ‘bags for life’.