The New Journal’s Dan Carrier and Richard Osley

DURING the corona­virus pandemic, readers will remember how the New Journal’s food aid van nipped through back streets across the borough, supporting vulnerable people with donations – providing a link between those who wanted to help and those who needed help.

Now, with the painful images we are seeing on the nightly news from Ukraine and the desperate dash to escape Vladimir Putin’s invasion, we are getting it out of the garage again.

On Tuesday, the CNJ aid van will head off on a 2,500-mile road trip to take vital supplies of medicine, food and bedding to those who have fled across borders with only what they could carry.

We will take donations from readers, who have told us how helpless they feel, directly to the edge of the war zone – driving through France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and then Poland.

There we will meet contacts from the Red Cross and will hand over the contents of our three-and-a-half-ton truck, which has been donated for the cause by Kentish Town construction firm, Murphys.

Pictures from the refugee front line taken by Camden Town charity Food For All

Polish-born Ewe Adams, who is helping co-ordinate aid for the Ukrainian embassy in London, thanked the New Journal for its support – and told us how her own family has been working to help tired and hungry people arriving along the Ukrainian and Polish border.

She described how hundreds of families have arrived in her hometown of Wrocław in southern Poland – and how her mother had opened her door to those in desperate need.

“People are arriving in Poland with nothing – the clothes they stand up, and perhaps one small bag,” she said. “In the first week, when it all started, I spoke to my mother in Wrocław and she said she needed to do all she could to help. At midnight that same day, 10 mothers and children arrived on her doorstep. They had been given one hour to pack and leave their homes.”

She added that as the war intensifies and the Russian army takes control of more areas in the eastern part of the country, the refugee crisis will only escalate. “It has been frantic so far – and is going to get worse,” Ms Adams said. “People are sleeping outside or in army tents in sub-zero temperatures. We have seen 1.5 million people arrive in Poland in three weeks. They have lost everything and it isn’t going to stop.

“The further east people are travelling from, the more they have been exposed to the complete horror, the less they have been able to bring with them.”

Her home province has seen 3,000 orphans arrive.

She added: “And can you imagine leaving the men of your family behind in a war zone? They don’t know when they will see their sons, brothers, husbands again. “They can only try not to think of the horror those defending their homes are experiencing. The question people are asking is: what happens next? How can we help?”

Murphy’s has donated use of the wheels

We decided to take the aid van to Poland because so many people here in Camden have made clear they want to help – but don’t always know how.

New Journal editor Richard Osley said: “As a newspaper with a campaigning tradition, we never feel it is enough to meet great crises by sitting behind a computer screen and reporting what is happening from social media and other people’s updates. We have to try and be active.”

He added: “Our van may be a small drop in the ocean when it comes to what is needed, but we also take with us a message of solidarity from our caring borough to those now suffering unimaginable hardship. That’s always been the CNJ’s way – it’s always been Camden’s way.”

Meanwhile, it was confirmed this week that Ukrainian refugees will be arriving in Camden from next week, but the exact number will depend on how many residents open their doors as each arrival must be sponsored by a specific UK resident. Under the new scheme, any Ukrainian national or immediate family member of a Ukrainian national can come to the UK to live and work for three years if a resident offers to sponsor them.

The council said there is no limit on how many could come.  To be eligible as a sponsor, the UK resident must guarantee a refugee accommodation for six months. Refugees will be eligible for benefits and the host will not be expected to cover their living expenses, but hosts will be given a £350 “thank you payment” by the government. The payment will not impact single person discounts to council tax.

Food For All hand out hot drinks on the border

On Tuesday, the council met with community leaders to discuss how they can best support new arrivals. Concerns about safeguarding, access to health and education services and maintaining support for refugees already here from Afghanistan were raised.

As of Tuesday evening, 120,000 Britons had expressed an interest in hosting a refugee, prompting experts to express concerns that the scheme could lead to the exploitation of Ukrainians – who may be placed in unsafe homes.

Speaking about the meeting, leader of the council, Georgia Gould, said: “I was overwhelmed by the care and dedication of Camden’s community who have always stepped up to provide a warm welcome to those fleeing violence. It made me deeply proud to call Camden home.”

For those who want to help but do not have the space or means to sponsor a refugee directly, the council is looking into a “housing fund”.

Cllr Gould said: “We’ve been thinking about a housing fund that we could link with available housing. There will be many people who want to help but don’t have a room available or the ability to provide the support.”

She added: “We have a call out for disused sites that we could use to build new housing – not specifically for refugees. We’re really open to those sorts of ambitious ideas.”

How you can help

THE New Journal’s van is embarking on a mercy mission on our readers’ behalf – taking supplies right to where it is needed most. It may feel like a small act, but your generosity in supporting our aid van means everything to those we are going to help. They are families fleeing a war not of their own making.

To donate to the New Journal aid van, please bring items from our list to our offices at 40 Camden Road, NW1, tomorrow (Thursday), Friday or Monday; or to the Dartmouth Arms pub in York Rise, NW5.

The Ukrainian embassy in London has asked us to bring the following items: hygiene products (nappies, shampoos, deodorants, sanitary pads etc), tinned food, baby food, sleeping bags and mats, medicines including paracetamol, ibruprofen, calpol, codeine, plasters and bandages.

It has requested no clothing be donated. If you are unsure if your donation is needed, you can contact reporter Dan Carrier on dan@camdennewjournal.co.uk