Rotary walk t-shirts head to Ukraine

Monday 14 November 2022

Returned 2022 Saffery Rotary Walk t-shirts have been collected, washed, packed, and are on their way to Ukraine where they'll be distributed among displaced victims of the war.

With a harsh winter forecast, the t-shirts will be added to other clothing being sent as Aid to the innocent victims of the war.

The organisers of the Saffery Rotary Walk provide entrants with a t-shirt every year. Some of those may be worn just once so rather than letting them sit in drawers, or add to landfill, they were collected back again after this year's event.

Simon Milsted, Chair of the walk, said “the days of single-use clothing have rightly passed. We encourage all our walkers to think carefully about how their shirts can be put to good use. Those wishing to return their walk shirt to us can be sure that we find a meaningful use for all clothing that we issue. The minute we heard that local business Stan Brouard had linked up with St Peter’s Church to organise a clothing collection to be sent to Ukraine, this year’s initiative was sealed.”

Pictured: Some of the Saffery Rotary walkers, including Dr Peter Rabey (l) and Deputy Heidi Soulsby (r).

He linked up with the Treasurer of St Peter’s Church, Simon Wood, and it was agreed between them that the Saffery Rotary Walk t-shirts would become part of a collection already being readied for shipment to Ukraine.

Mr Wood said: “Through speaking to the church vicar, the Reverend Adrian Datta, about the urgent appeal for adult and children’s clothing needed in Ukraine, we reached out to Rotary. We thought it would be hugely beneficial to send their t-shirts, along with other types of clothing already being collected, to help the people of Ukraine during the crisis they are facing.”

Given that the Saffery Rotary Walk is about helping others, raising money for charities of all different sizes and with different aims, Saffery Champness Director Lisa Vizia agreed with no hesitation about giving to the most vulnerable in Ukraine this winter:

“Saffery Champness couldn’t have agreed more that this urgent appeal is one we needed to help. The recycled Walk t-shirts were passed to the charity dealing with the crisis in Ukraine through Stan Brouard and St Peter’s Church. We hope that this donation can help alleviate some of the pain the people of Ukraine are suffering.”

Nigel Dorey of Rotary was instrumental in getting the clothing to the collection point, ready for shipment.‌

“The Saffery Rotary, for the past three years, have donated their t-shirts to Africa. However, after hearing about the clothing appeal for Ukraine, it was an obvious recipient of our t-shirts this year. We dropped off the t-shirts earlier this week with hope that they will help those in dire need.’’