To not understand why people are driving to Poland?

[Tgbiyr]

Genuinely interested in whether I’m missing something.

I have a friend on Facebook who’s driving part of a convoy of goods for Ukrainian refugees from the UK to Poland. Toiletries, clothes etc. He asked people to donate goods, and now he’s asking people to donate towards fuel costs.

I cannot understand why anyone is doing this. Would it not be better to donate to the Polish charities supporting the refugees than transport lorries full of goods thousands of miles? Or ask for donations of goods to support refugees who come to Britain? What am I missing?

AIBU to think that driving lorries from the UK to Poland isn’t helpful, and the money would be better spent being directly donated to organisations in Poland?

@Ncwinc

Because Dave loading his van full of second hand toys and tinned beans knows so much better than multinational charities that specialise in getting hundreds of thousands of refugees fed, treated and sheltered every day.

The real issue is that a huge box of second hand clothes and toys and a bag of nappies looks better on Facebook than a link to a relief fund donation site.

What has gone from my small town wasn't second hand clothes or toys. It was disposable nappies, sanitary products, toiletries, baby equipment.

Nothing on facebook.

@Roxy69

I don't understand it either. A friend of mine drove from Scotland with a van ful of stuff. He is the type. Myself, I would rather give to a charity who knows what they are doing. Ukrainians don't even eat the same sort of food as us for goodness sake. They might prefer comfort food. Where are the tin openers? People don't leave with those tucked in their back pockets. I know people want to help but alongside that is also a 'look at me doing good' element. Not to mention the environmental damage by driving there. It would also boost their economy a bit if Poland provided the food, which would be a good thing I think.

Tinned food is one of the items currently being asked for by the Polish club local to me who are responding to requests from centres in Poland and beyond!

[quote LampLighter414]Aww hun ur an angel. Hero!

@Ncwinc

Because Dave loading his van full of second hand toys and tinned beans knows so much better than multinational charities that specialise in getting hundreds of thousands of refugees fed, treated and sheltered every day.

The real issue is that a huge box of second hand clothes and toys and a bag of nappies looks better on Facebook than a link to a relief fund donation site.

And his van load of stuff might easily be offloaded to the nearest criminal who then sells it on for profit. Is Dave just going to hand it over to the first person in a high-viz vest? There will be lots of criminals targeting these people.

@Qc16 Exactly and I don't believe that the Red Cross or whoever are in every small town in Poland/Hungary/Slovakia and although people have taken refugees in it doesn't mean they can afford to provide everything they need.

I wonder how many criminals want a van load of all the secondhand clothes and toys that people reckon are being sent over? Either it is decent stuff people want or it isn't, you can't have it both ways.

Sky news just showing refugees in Poland picking clothes from donations. They seem happy to have them.

@ancientgran

I wonder how many criminals want a van load of all the secondhand clothes and toys that people reckon are being sent over? Either it is decent stuff people want or it isn't, you can't have it both ways.

Second-hand rubbish or not, it can still be sold off at a price, if only to textile firms. There’s money to be made in war - unfortunately.

@mamabear715

I'm sure what the charities want is cash! YOU aren't listening to what others have said about not entirely trusting charities since the Oxfam & Rspca debacles!

There are issues around charities misusing cash and not having adequate safeguarding procedures so that terrible things have been done in their name. But the point is they were found out because they are accountable to the Charity Commission & their donors (I stopped donating to Amnesty & Oxfam because I disapprove of things they have done. I can do that because I have the information). A man in a van with a bunch of donations has no accountability whatsoever.

For all the naysayers - this is one small place receiving donations.

Yeah but they're asking for people to donate cash via their godundme

Still people on FB trying to offload clothes and blankets today

People in the UK still need second hand donations

People in europe and ukraine
Need hard cash

For those who are continuing to collect clothes to send to Ukraine....

Money not second hand goods is what is needed, clearly.

@TonkaTruckduck

Can you begin to imagine the chaos of needing a pack of size 3 nappies and having warehouse after warehouse of stuff to look through? Money is much more effective. It's lovely that people want to help, but it's just adding to the chaos quite probably.

when the stuff goes to ware house or shops that are collecting they put all the things the same in a box and write on box what's in there, thats what they were doing here

Some do, some don't, I expect and I suspect not every group has someone able to write in the appropriate language on the boxes. From what I've seen, a lot of the labelling has been pretty general. If you donate cash the distribution centre will have ordered one whole shipment of size 3 nappies, or whatever which will be clearly labelled and if it bought locally will be the type and language the local volunteers recognise, as opposed to British stuff they may not have seen before.

If you're still unsure, watch this video.....

www.facebook.com/520956329/posts/10158101912046330/

Why don’t they head to Calais with their goods? They’ll do a lot more good. Those Black and Brown people aren’t going anywhere.

Help is help, whatever shape it comes in.
But whatever.

Help is something a person can’t do for themself

Distracting aid workers by having to sort huge mostly useless donations is not help. Wasting money on trucks and fuel when it could just be donated and spent on exactly what’s needed isn’t help.

@mamabear715

Help is help, whatever shape it comes in. But whatever.

I have absolutely zero medical training. Should I attempt to treat my Dad’s cancer, or set my daughter’s broken arm? Of course I shouldn’t, and I’d probably do a lot more harm than good. But - y’know - I was trying to help so that’s okay.

@mamabear715

Help is help, whatever shape it comes in. But whatever.

Help is not help when it's diverting much needed manpower to sorting mountains of crap they don't need so that someone else can get the warm and fuzzies about their 'good deed'.

Help is giving people what they need, not doing what makes you feel good.

How the f*ck do YOU know what makes me feel good?

@mamabear715

How the f*ck do YOU know what makes me feel good?

aside from not claiming to know what makes you feel good, you are allowed to say the word fuck on here.

It’s almost as though lots of posters on here want to make others dig their heels in and justify their motivations and behaviours with regard to donating items to send to Ukraine. Either that, or there are an awful lot of people on here with no comprehension whatsoever of how to influence people and an awfully big superiority complex. 😂 Don’t tell others what is motivating them - you’re just being gratuitously offensive. Or maybe you get the “warm and fuzzies”/the feel-good factor from being nasty.

It reminds me of the start of the Syrian refugee crisis when a local restaurant owner I knew started a drive among her nice 20-something middle class friends to "knit squares for the refugees". She wanted everyone to knit as many squares as they could, drop them off at the restaurant, then she would stitch them together into blankets to send over to the refugees. The absurdity and complete naivety of it tickled me and irritated me in equal measures.