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'Wrapathon' event sees 25,000 gifts go to Ukraine

Sergej Zubaryev The rear of a van is pictured with its doors opened. Boxes are piled inside the vehicle and reach up to the ceiling. Sergej Zubaryev
The gifts arrived in Ukraine on Tuesday and will be distributed via Rotary Clubs

An annual Christmas event has seen 25,000 gifts sent to children living in Ukraine.

The "wrapathon", which is in its third year, saw hundreds of volunteers gift wrap toys, books and other donated items at events held in Ipswich in Suffolk, Bath, Swindon in Wiltshire, Kempston in Bedfordshire and other towns last month.

Sergej Zubaryev, who organises distributing the presents in Ukraine, said the gifts ensured children would not feel forgotten.

Jeremy Fish, from the Plant & Hire Aid Alliance which organised the wrapathon, said he hoped 2025 would bring an end to the conflict in the country.

Jeremy Fish smiles at the camera inside a community hall. He has short dark hair and is wearing a red and white Santa Claus top. Behind him other volunteers at a wrapathon event can be seen talking.
Jeremy Fish organised the wrapathon event in 2022 and it has been running every since

The gifts arrived in Ukraine on Tuesday and will be distributed through Rotary Clubs.

Mr Zubaryev said: "Britain is many kilometres away from Ukraine, but those are just distances."

"In spirit, they live with us and with our children.

"I want to say that the world has stopped seeing orphans and children in Ukraine specifically, but thanks to the British people, and especially Jeremy, his kind and patient wife, and his friends who trust him, many people and children will feel warmth in their hearts.

"They know that God and Britain are with them," he said.

Mr Zubaryev added that the gifts were a "piece of kindness" that brought hope and warmth to the people of Ukraine.

Jeremy Fish A forklift vehicle lifts a pallet filled with boxes that are wrapped in plastic packaging. A man wearing an orange high-vis jacket with an orange hard hat operates the vehicle. A warehouse can be seen behind the vehicle.Jeremy Fish
Volunteers in the UK worked to box up the gifts and load them on to lorries

Mr Fish, who is a founding member of the Plant and Hire Aid Alliance, came up with the idea for the event after driving a van of humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian border in February 2022.

He thanked gift contributors and volunteers.

"Fingers crossed, this will be the last time we need to do this and that 2025 brings peace, stability and common sense back to the world," he said.

A large room is pictured with many boxes and bags of gifts visible on the bare floor. Dozens of people are also visible packing presents and talking to each other. The walls are white and have porthole-style windows
It is believed about 45,000 gifts have been donated since the wrapathon began three years ago

In February 2022 Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, said earlier this month that 43,000 of the country's soldiers had died since the war's escalation in 2022.

He also claimed 198,000 Russian soldiers had been killed and a further 550,000 wounded.

Jeremy Fish A close up picture of an open lorry filled with cardboard boxes that are piled on top of each other. Jeremy Fish
Wrapathons took place across towns and cities in the UK including in Ipswich, Bath and Swindon

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