BIG-HEARTED Colchester volunteers are collecting donations to support people in need in Ukraine.

Peter Dutch decided to rally people to help those in need amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine after seeing photographs of the devastation caused.

He already had experience with volunteering as he founded the Anti Loo Roll Brigade in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

With the network already in place, he said being in a position to help and not doing so wasn’t an option for him.

He said: “I made a post on Sunday just to say we were looking into it and making some inquiries.

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“We wanted to make sure the people we were going to be working with actually had the infrastructure to deliver because if we couldn’t get it there, then it was a complete waste of time.”

Within 24 hours the Abbey Fields Medical Centre had been set up as a donations hub.

Gazette: Anti Loo Roll Brigade volunteers packing up the lorry Anti Loo Roll Brigade volunteers packing up the lorry

The first lorry packed full of much-needed supplies left the medical centre on Friday which was headed straight for Ukraine.

Peter said it is also looking likely the group will be taking a couple of vans of donations to Moldova, which he says isn’t getting as much support.

“At the moment we have several supply chains which are open and access to get stuff in straight away,” Peter added.

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“So while we can, it’s obviously a day to day thing at the moment, we’re doing all we can.”

He estimates hundreds of people collectively are helping the Colchester-based group with its appeal.

“We’ve had such an amazing response, the size of the bags coming in from the Amazon wish list is just phenomenal,” he continued.

“And it’s not just us, it’s all of their people doing their own collections who we’re now working with.”

Peter said the donation hub at Abbey Fields Medical Centre will be open from 10am to 6pm every day for as long as it can make a difference.

Alternatively, items can be bought from an Amazon wish list which will deliver straight to the hub.

The wish list can be found online at amzn.to/3ttwoir.