More than 250 wheelchairs sent to Ukraine's injured

A charity has sent more than 250 wheelchairs to disabled and injured people in Ukraine in two years.

Hereford Help for Ukraine was set up in 2022 and had since teamed up with volunteers and companies across Herefordshire to gather money and much-needed aid.

As well as wheelchairs, the group also sent packages of clothes, toiletries and food to the war-torn country.

Volunteers also provided support to refugees living in the county since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Olga Tverdokhlib is an accountant but in her spare time she runs the organisation and is chair of the Ukraine Association in Hereford.

“It’s very important for the Ukrainian people. So many people have been injured, many have lost their legs and can’t find funds for wheelchairs," she said.

Disability equipment firm TPG Disableaids, based in the city, contacted the charity to offer spare equipment they could no longer use, the group said.

“We are very thankful for the help because they can be very expensive,” Ms Tverdokhlib said.

Initially volunteers would drive the aid and wheelchairs to Poland where they would be met by Ukrainian volunteers who took them the rest of the way.

Now the charity said it paid £3,000 for the hauls to be loaded into Ukrainian lorries that come to Hereford to drop off trade deliveries.

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