Ukraine action: first tools arrived on site

On Saturday 9 April, the FMS, in cooperation with the Labour Party, organised a big fundraiser for our SD platform partners in Ukraine.

The SD platform is an important partner for us: Over the past decade, many Dutch FMS trainers have built friendships with Katya, Igor, Olena, Bogdan and the countless others who selflessly and tirelessly work for social democracy in Ukraine. The SD platform is currently deploying its network to support those who are suffering the most, providing concrete help to all who need it; from the streets of Kyiv to the shelters of Kharkiv. 

Photo: some of the items collected at PvdA in Doetinchem

The collection campaign was a great success - about 4.5 tonnes of relief goods were collected. Locations were opened by the Labour Party at various locations around the country, where people could drop off products. The FMS would like to support the PvdA branches in The Hague, Amsterdam, Venlo, Doetinchem and Groningen thank them for their help and tireless efforts during the fundraising campaign. 

In Amersfoort, a large collection took place at primary school "School on the Mountain", this yielded fantastic proceeds. In Groningen, the shelves in several supermarkets were empty thanks to the presence of several volunteers. Many thanks to the Groningen Labour Party branch and Bloody Basics For the inspired organisation here. Bloody Basics is an advocacy organisation that aims to increase access of menstrual products for women and girls, they also previously collected necessary products for Ukraine. 

Photo: First resources are distributed at a Ukrainian refugee site  

On Easter Monday, the funds were handed over to our partners at the Slovak-Ukrainian border with a truck from Koning and Drenth B.V.. Many thanks to them for making material and manpower available for transferring the collected items to our SD platform partners. Due to the good cooperation and quick transport from Koning and Drenth B.V., the first resources have already been distributed to the needy Ukrainian people. 

Photo: empty shelves at a Groningen supermarket after the collection campaign