Aid for the people of Ukraine

David Gardner is modest about his role in supporting the people of Ukraine. “When you think of a humanitarian aid worker, someone looking at spreadsheets isn’t what comes to mind.” David is a lay church development worker and youth pastor with the Dublin North Methodist circuit of the Methodist Church in Ireland and, despite his modesty, he has been in Poland for the last month supporting Medair with the complex logistics of transporting supplies across the border and into Ukraine.

Recent consignments have included 10,000 blankets, hygiene products, face masks and a truck and a half of toilet rolls. Key personnel have also been transported into Ukraine, people with specialist knowledge in areas such as sanitation and mental health.



Medair is supporting a number of distribution points and local churches and community groups running centers to provide Non-Food items and assistance to displaced families.

“These people have suffered incredible emotional trauma, some of them have been in bunkers for weeks or attacked as they have escaped. They are now living inside churches and other communal buildings in Ukraine. To make these places more hospitable we are helping supply showers, washing machines and other equipment. Providing for these basic human needs is important in providing some sense of normality to help maintain dignity and morale.

“Money is by far the most flexible and efficient way to provide aid. We have professionals who advise on the best way of ensuring that funds are being used in the most effective and secure manner.

"The banks and general infrastructure are working well in most of Ukraine so, where possible, we try to use local suppliers. This is efficient as it removes the need for long supply chains and keeps the local economy working. In some places, queues and rationing for fuel can be an issue, so the less fuel we use, the better. Collecting clothing or bedding for Ukraine may sound like a good way to provide practical help but it is very time consuming as we have to sort and then transport what we get to ensure it is suitable. With money we can get exactly what people need, in uniform quality and without having to drive it across Europe, said David Gardner.

David explained, “the numbers of people travelling are now fewer than we have seen in previous weeks but we have to stay prepared. If the war is taken to another part of Ukraine or there is a sudden escalation then we could see hundreds of thousands of people on the move again into a system that is already stretched.  We have to be ready and prepared to deal with that at little or no notice or we could be facing a massive humanitarian disaster.”

Medair are a humanitarian organisation responding to human suffering and the needs of the world’s most vulnerable people. You can learn more here. 

The Methodist Church in Britain and All We Can are running a joint appeal supporting organisations working alongside those impacted by the war in Ukraine and the surrounding countries. For more details and to donate visit the All We Can website.