Donations pour in at Leeds Polish Catholic Centre as volunteers organise collection for Ukrainian refugees

Volunteer Magdalena Timmins has organised a collection of essential items for Ukrainian people who have fled over the border to Przemyśl in Poland - the town where she grew up.

She plans to send a van full of blankets, clothes, toilet rolls, nappies, toothbrushes, wet wipes and more to the town at the end of this week.

Leeds Polish Centre, in Chapel Allerton, was open for collections on Sunday and people poured into the centre with bags of supplies.

Emma Date, who owns dance school Attitude Dance Leeds in Calverley, visited the centre on Sunday afternoon to drop off donations.

"It was extremely busy when we arrived today," she told the Yorkshire Evening Post.

"To see the amount of support made me quite emotional and a number of other people donating commented that too.

"I saw a post on the LeedsPlace Facebook page and felt that it was a small way that I could somehow help, so decided to post on my own page and on my dance school page to see if any friends and parents had anything to donate that we could take up too.

"The lady who organised it originally came from a village in Poland where Ukrainians are now finding refuge, so it’s great that she felt able to set up this collection.

"Myself and my daughter and a few of my pupils went to deliver the items early this afternoon."

-> 'The war has started': Leeds politicians react as Russia invades Ukraine

It comes as Leeds Civic Hall was lit up in blue and yellow over the weekend as a "symbolic gesture" to show solidarity with the Ukrainian community.

Leeds City Council leaders said people in Leeds have been "shocked and saddened at the tragic events unfolding in Ukraine."

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has updated its estimate on the number of refugees that have left Ukraine, saying the total stands at 368,000, a figure that continues to rise.

The UNHCR said humanitarian needs are “multiplying and spreading by the hour”.

Several Leeds politicians have spoken out in praise of the volunteers at the centre who are organising the collection.

In a Facebook post, Leeds East MP Richard Burgon said: "Wonderful to see volunteers from the Leeds Polish Catholic Centre collecting necessities for refugees from Ukraine.

"So many people from our diverse community brought blankets, clothes, toilet rolls, nappies, toothbrushes, wet wipes and more."

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