War in Ukraine: Help drops in cost of living crisis, says aid worker

BBC Hannah JarvisBBC
Hannah Jarvis says people are no longer shocked by images of war and are less inclined to donate supplies

An Army veteran has said supplies being donated to Ukraine have dried up amid the soaring cost of living.

Hannah Jarvis will make her fourth and final trip to the Polish-Ukrainian border on Thursday with medical aid.

"The cost of living crisis is hitting everyone and people just simply have less money to give," said Ms Jarvis, of Abergavenny, Monmouthshire.

She said people are also "sadly no longer shocked" by images of the war and are less inclined to donate.

Ms Jarvis, now a Conservative councillor in Monmouthshire, has been working with the group Bridge to Unity to deliver medical supplies to Ukraine following the Russian invasion.

She told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast that donations have dropped ahead of what will be Ukraine's "biggest challenge yet during this winter".

Getty Images Refugees arriving at the Polish border of MedykaGetty Images
Ukrainian refugees arriving at the Polish border of Medyka

"I can see a real difference between the support there was on the first trip we made in March, just weeks into the war, and now," said Ms Jarvis.

She said fewer people were giving support, and donations of money, clothes and food had all dropped.

Ms Jarvis said she had seen some "harrowing" sights during her trips, with her first visit the worst.

"It was chaos, there were thousands of people coming over the border, women and children, and the condition they were in was just awful to see."

Hannah Jarvis Hannah JarvisHannah Jarvis
Hannah Jarvis served in Iraq in 2007 while she was in the Royal Welsh Regiment