Farm turns unused shed into sorting centre for Ukrainian donations

Part of the potato storage area at Admiral Farm in Colchester is unused at this time of year, and has become a co-ordination hub for sorting and packing donations to send to Ukraine. So far four lorries have been filled– equating to around 100 pallets worth of clothing, soft toys, dried non-perishable foods, medical supplies, batteries, torches and other supplies.

The project is being led by 23-year-old Ruslan Postupalenko, his parents Oleksandr and Luda and younger brother Kyrylo. The family, originally from Ukraine, run a haulage company and became close to the Wright family during the course of their work on the farms’ vehicles, as well as moving and transporting containers to the ports.

Twenty-three-year-old Ruslan Postupalenko is leading the project with his family.

When news of the Russian invasion of Ukraine was announced, George Wright says he wanted to help the family and began spreading the word at the local church and farm meetings that they were seeking donations.

Originally vans were being loaded with donations at Brook Farm, another of George Wright’s farms, but as there was limited space, the efforts were moved to unused space at Admiral Farm instead.

Another local farm, Anglia Salads, donated some shrink wrap and friends of Mr Wright offered money for fuel for the lorries.

Since then donations have “snowballed” as more and more communities find out about their efforts and want to help – and Mr Wright said the project has brought people of multiple nationalities together to support the Postupalenkos and the Ukrainian people – with up to 30 volunteers at one time coming along to help sort and pack the donations.

As well as gathering donations from the local areas, Ruslan has also been making trips to London and working with the Polish community in Ipswich to collect further supplies, including much needed surgical equipment from a London hospital.

Once donations are brought in, they are sorted at the farm so each pallet contains a mixture of goods, before being shrink wrapped and packed into the lorries with extra clothes placed on top. The lorries are bound for a site about 70km inside Ukraine to Lviv and other towns, where donations are sorted and distributed.

Another local farmer and chairman of the Colchester National Farmers Union, Robert Blyth, has pledged to accept donations at his farm boot sale, Ardleigh car boot sale, every Sunday for as long as required. My Blyth has also agreed to package some of the humanitarian aid and deliver it to Admirals Farm to distribute.

Mr Wright said he has been surprised by the number of donations – having expected to fill a couple of lorries, two have gone already and another two are ready to go, with donations still coming in. So many clothes have now been donated they have been redistributed to other organisations in need in some cases, but there is still a need for medical supplies such as bandages and pain relief.

But Mr Wright and the Postupalenkos have no intention of stopping their work anytime soon, however. Mr Wright commented: “As long as the war continues and as long as there is a need for supplies, we will carry on.”