Boxes, buses and burgers: How Newport is helping Ukraine

In a matter of days, lives have been turned upside down, with towns and cities taking severe damage, and reports that thousands of people may have been killed – civilians and military personnel alike.

While official counts vary and are disputed, one thing is certain – the lives of millions of Ukrainian citizens have been turned on their heads.

Many have lost their homes due to military airstrikes, while others have made the heart-breaking decision to flee their homeland, in search of safety and shelter.

Across the rest of the world, a massive effort to help those people has taken place – and this includes right here in Newport.

The city, which has an existing Eastern European community, has rallied, in a bid to help those most in need.

Throughout the city, a number of efforts have been launched to support the victims of the invasion.

And residents of Newport who have found themselves closer to the conflict are also playing their part from afar, too.

While we can’t feature each and every individual effort being made right here in Newport, you can find some of the more eye-catching ways that the city has rallied to help Ukraine below.

Westgate Hotel supply drop

Arguably the highest profile network of help in Newport, the Westgate Hotel in the city centre is the centre point of a major effort to secure supplies to those who need them.

All week long, hundreds – if not thousands, of items have arrived here, ready to be loaded up into vans and taken to support those fleeing Ukraine.

Such has been the level of support here, that donations had to be paused for a time, because they simply had too many items to sort through.

Donated items inside the Westgate Hotel

Instead, manpower and cardboard boxes are now most in demand, in order to get the items to where they need to go.

Even then, they have seen so many people come forward looking to help out, that this has turned into a shift based system - with would-be volunteers asked to message ahead of time to be given a slot (11am-1pm; 1.30pm-4.30pm; or 5pm-8pm).

More information, including who to contact to help out, can be found here.

Burgers

This might seem a little strange, but you can tuck into a tasty treat, and support the effort, all at the same time.

From Monday, March 7, popular restaurant and takeaway Smoky’s is launching the “Klitschko Kyiv burger”.

Details of what will actually go into this burger are not yet known, but all profits made from selling these burgers are set to go to a charity which is currently helping the people of Ukraine.

More information can be found here.

Buses

On Friday March 3, Newport Bus and Newport City Council revealed that one of their double-decker buses has been repainted in a show of solidarity with Ukraine.

The bus, which is normally green in colour, now has a blue upper deck, and yellow lower deck – the colour of the Ukrainian flag.

The Newport Bus in Ukraine's colours

It is unclear whether fares picked up on this bus – subsidised by the authorities this month due to the free bus scheme, will be donated to the relief efforts.

In any case, it is a striking image, and will surely turn heads when spotted in and around Newport.

Welcoming refugees

Earlier this week, it was confirmed that Newport City Council was open to welcoming refugees from Ukraine, as the situation in the Eastern European country worsens.

A motion to “deplore” the actions of Russia’s Vladimir Putin was put forward by leader Cllr Jane Mudd at a full council meeting on Tuesday, March 1, and was unanimously approved by councillors.

The Welsh Government announced that £4 million was being made available in financial and humanitarian aid.

Details of local authorities contributions to the wider Welsh efforts are expected to be made clearer in the coming days.

Find out more here.

Monetary assistance

While organising supplies right here in the city is undoubtably a massive help, a Newport couple living in Prague have started fundraising too – as they are further east, and likely to be able to offer face-to-face help sooner.

In just two days, James and Olivia Ward have raised £5,000 to buy supplies for Ukrainian refugees fleeing to the Czech Republic.

More information regarding their work, including how to help out, can be found here.