CherkasyFourteen

George Corrie is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

UPDATE FROM GEORGE TUESDAY 15TH MARCH 2022

Firstly, thank you all for your donations. Everything helps and we so appreciate your support, however large or small.

Our links with the Ukraine go back some years. Ruslan and his 14 gate makers, based in central Ukraine, have been making soft wood gates for Suffolk Timber Products for over 6 years now. They build and ship these across to us at Suffolk Timber Products every two months or so. Their workshop base is located in Cherkasy, alongside the Dnieper River, which is approximately 120 miles south of Kyiv.

At this moment, we are doing our best to support them all and working at getting any wives and children, that wish to leave the Ukraine, to safety. Hugo and Chris leave for the Poland border today with supplies including food, medicines and wheelchairs. Our aim is to meet the families at the Polish border and support / help them relocate to their preferred destination across Europe and in the UK.

We also want to support the gate makers who remain in Cherkasy. Unfortunately, we cannot get physical supplies to them and now they are unable to work. Their priority is to defend their country. And therefore, Suffolk Timber Products have already sent funds to enable them to buy food and supplies for themselves which, at this time, are still available.

We will keep you updated on the progress of Hugo and Chris. Watch this space. And please, if you would like to support the Cherkasy fourteen, donate to https://gofund.me/4f86791d

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We are a Suffolk based company called Suffolk Timber Products Ltd that has long-established close ties with a small softwood timber gate manufacturing business in Cherkasy, Ukraine.

We have been purchasing softwood timber gates from them over the last six years and have built up over this time a very established and close connection with Ruslan Kulish and his team. This has provided long-term employment for 14 full-time employees, giving them all a standard of living to care for and provide for their families.

Because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this has now started to cause tremendous hardship for Ruslan and his team and of course for the whole of the Ukrainian population.

Ruslan and his team are now no longer able to work due to increased bombings in their area, and circumstances are becoming more challenging by the day. As a business and on a personal level, we cannot sit back and watch this situation unfold any longer.

Food, water supplies and medical goods are now becoming in very short supply, and the wives and children of Ruslan and his team’s safety are becoming ever more dangerous. In addition to this Ruslan and his team, who are no longer able to work and receive their wages are now arming themselves by whatever means possible as they are determined to fight for their country.

We are now contributing funds from Suffolk Timber Products and are requesting any donations towards our means of support for Ruslan, his team and their families.

Our priority is twofold, firstly we are as of now arranging for supplies of food, water and medical supplies to be driven into the Ukraine to ensure Ruslan and his men can have these to help aid them and their families that are wishing to remain.

In addition we are trying to make arrangements to return back to the UK with a few of the teams wives and children for their safety.

We are currently trying to arrange Visa’s via the Home Office which is currently proving difficult but we are persisting. We have already made arrangements for accommodation in the UK through staff within our organisation willing to provide this, we are even prepared to pay for accommodation outside the UK borders if Visas are not obtainable or delayed.

We have set up this Go-Fund Me page called the ‘CherkasyFourteen’ to help us in raising financial funds to achieve this much-needed support, which we are promoting through our company website, social media along with GenX Radio Suffolk, who are directly in contact with Rulsan keeping up with his ever-changing situation in Ukraine.

Below are the names of Ruslan & his team which we refer to as the ‘CherkasyFourteen’.

1. Ruslan Kulish

2. Volodymyr Kolesnik

3. Oleg Nikolaenko

4. Ivan Piskovoy

5. Vasyl Harchenko

6. Oleksandr Basarab

7. Yuriy Zaparozets

8. Vitaliy Myhalchenko

9. Serhii Harchenko

10. Volodymyr Lakin

11. Ivan Yaremchuk