Ross-on-Wye mother collecting for Ukrainian families

BBC Katie FowlerBBC
Katie Fowler said the images of families being split up by the war have "really hit home"

A woman who has started collecting food and other essentials for people in the Ukraine has said "the situation frightens me to death".

Katie Fowler from Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire has three children and said: "It hits home and it scares me that these kids have to go through this type of thing."

She has been gathering supplies at a warehouse in the town, and was surprised at the number of donations.

They will be shipped out on Saturday.

Ms Fowler said: "I actually haven't got any words because it keeps coming and I didn't think or expect it was going to be as big as it has been.

"There's just been so many people that have donated already."

People packing food in to bags
The warehouse in Ross-on-Wye has been accepting donations of food and other everyday items

Ms Fowler said she had been collecting "the everyday stuff that people take for granted" with a plan to send it to London and then on to the Ukraine via Poland.

"It's the only way we can help, we can't go over there, we can't help them any other way apart from to send them aid," she said.

She also said that despite the distance, the images in the news had got people thinking about their own families and added: "Everybody's just grateful that somebody's doing something."

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