Wigan goes above and beyond to help those in Ukraine

People from across Wigan have rallied round to help those whose lives have been ruined by the terrible conflict in Ukraine.
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Organisations from across the borough have collected various donations to support those who need it most.

As a result of a charitable collaboration between the parish priest at St James’s RC Church, Orrell, St James’ School and Anthony and Marina Berry, the new leaseholders of the St James’s Parish Centre, a substantial amount of aid is being sent to the Ukraine.

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The organisation of this has involved a lot of effort and a very quick turn around in order to get things moving

Pupils from the School Council at Orrell St James' RC primary school join staff at BA Berry Builders at Hewitt Business Park, Orrell, to help pack and load the food and items donated to send to Ukraine.Pupils from the School Council at Orrell St James' RC primary school join staff at BA Berry Builders at Hewitt Business Park, Orrell, to help pack and load the food and items donated to send to Ukraine.
Pupils from the School Council at Orrell St James' RC primary school join staff at BA Berry Builders at Hewitt Business Park, Orrell, to help pack and load the food and items donated to send to Ukraine.

Some of the donations came from staff at Heinz, who gathered various items after finding out about the mission at the church.

There are five pallets of non-perishable food items, toiletries, simple pharmaceutical products, baby milk, nappies, sanitary products and warm clothing currently being shipped across to eastern Europe.

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Fr Andrew Unsworth, parish priest at St James’s said: “There is a two part response for what is going on at the moment.

Pupils from the School Council at Orrell St James' RC primary school join staff at BA Berry Builders at Hewitt Business Park, Orrell, to help pack and load the food and items donated to send to Ukraine.Pupils from the School Council at Orrell St James' RC primary school join staff at BA Berry Builders at Hewitt Business Park, Orrell, to help pack and load the food and items donated to send to Ukraine.
Pupils from the School Council at Orrell St James' RC primary school join staff at BA Berry Builders at Hewitt Business Park, Orrell, to help pack and load the food and items donated to send to Ukraine.
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"There is a spiritual dimension as we pray for those affected, but we also try to help them materially.

"A lot of Ukrainian people are strong Christians and as a faith group, we want to show solidarity with them - not only from a humanitarian perspective but also from a faith point of .”

Pupils from St James’s RC Primary were also heavily involved in collecting items.

Member of the school council, Amber Shaw, 10, said: “We as a school have collected food, which we have packed up to be sent to Ukraine.

"We hope that this will help them.”

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Fr Andrew added: “There is nothing more important at the moment than helping these people.

"This crisis has affected everyone across Europe.

"While we don’t know exactly where this aid will be going, there are people over in Ukraine who will make sure it is distributed to those that need it most.”

There are also material donations being accepted at St Jude’s and St Aidan’s Churches.

People are asked to deliver these directly and to contact: [email protected] for more details.

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