A NEWPORT woman with family in Poland has recently returned from the south of the country after travelling out to help the refugee relief effort.
Mrs Stallard was aiming to raise money to help Ukrainian refugees arriving in Poland.
She has had a great response - in total people have generously donated more than £4,000, with more still being pledged.
Mrs Stallard and her husband Lawrence have now taken the opportunity to travel to Poland to stay with family and see first-hand how the money has been helping.
First stop was Grabie, a small town in south east Poland, which has welcomed around 250 Ukrainians, mainly women and children.
To date, many of the refugees have been sleeping on mattresses on the floors of the local community centre.
The focus is now the renovation of disused apartment blocks into homes for refugees.
Mrs Stallard said this would "help to take their mind off the terrible things they have experienced and the worries they have about family members and friends who remain in Ukraine".
A makeshift school has also been set up, with around 80 children in attendance.
Mrs Stallard explained that it was "a very humbling experience to see how much effort the Polish people had put into supporting the refugees".
"There were welcoming banners and flags up, in Polish and Ukrainian and there were supplies of clothes, toiletries and sanitary items.
"However, it also brought it home to them both how real and desperate the situation was."
She described seeing women "wandering around, looking completely lost and mournful".
She also recalled being moved to tears by accounts from a priest of what people had experienced in Ukraine and the journey they had endured.
Mrs Stallard summed up the weekend as being "one of many emotions", but also that seeing the real-life effects of the donations had motivated her to carry on.
Along with her husband, Mrs Stallard has now started a campaign to collect toys and will hire a van to transport them to young refugees.
They are looking for good quality items, anything from colouring books and jigsaws to scooters and bikes.
An online fundraising page is also still live - at gofundme.com/f/uk-for-ukraine
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None of the donation will be collected by Newsquest. Financial transactions are with JustGiving to donate to the British Red Cross Society DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.
In the unlikely event that the British Red Cross Society raise more money than can be reasonably and efficiently spent, any surplus funds will be used to help them prepare for and respond to other humanitarian disasters anywhere in the world.
For more information visit https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/disaster-fund Charity Registration No. Eng/Wales 220949,Scot SC037738, IOM 0752, Jers430
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