What We Do
The Swindon Humanitarian Aid Partnership (SHAP) is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that was formed in the days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Our Board is made up of British and Ukrainian nationals and with a dedicated team of volunteers we remain determined to support Ukraine and Ukrainians to the best of our ability.
Our work is undertaken entirely by volunteers; we do not pay wages or salaries.
We Are Proud of Our Achievements to Date
With support from other like minded organisations we have collected , sorted , boxed and delivered 1550 tonnes of aid. The vast majority of the aid has been sent to Eastern Ukraine where the war is at its most intense and the need is greatest. All this has been achieved at a total cost to SHAP of £18,000. Donations from one very generous local family account for the vast majority of our expenditure.
We deliver what those in Ukraine tell us they need. Our haulage partners in Ukraine, Poland and the UK have been immense and we salute the courage of the truck drivers who deliver essential supplies into some very dangerous areas.
We are indebted to Dawson Group for the ongoing rent free loan of VW Crafter van that has collected hundreds of tonnes of aid donated by local people.
In partnership with the NHS and other health related organisations we have delivered around 2000 hospital beds and mattresses, 800 pallets of hygiene wipes and hundreds of boxes of mattresses, candles, clothes, medicines, boots and many other items.
In partnership with the Go-Ahead Group we have delivered four buses to Ukraine. We have also donated and delivered vans and 4x4 vehicles. Our first van, which cost just £2500, was delivered in October 2022 and is still supporting the humanitarian efforts close to the front line.
Perhaps our proudest moment was the conversion of a bus donated by Swindon’s Bus Company into a mobile medical facility which was officially handed over to His Excellency Vadym Prystaiko,The Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK ,at an event attended by senior Parliamentarians outside the Palace of Westminster. A photograph of a “bendy bus “ in the forests of East Ukraine with its Luton Airport livery still intact caught the attention of the worlds media - appearing in a dozen countries, the BBC, ITV and just about every British daily newspaper.
Although our primary focus is Ukraine we have also been pleased to support local people in need as well as those effected by the terrible earthquake in Turkey.
In and around Swindon we work in tandem with officers from Swindon Borough Council to support over 300 Ukrainian refugee visitors with important issues around housing, benefits, access to medical and dental support, school and university places.
We celebrated the cultural identity of Ukrainians and their impressive integration with local communities at an event at the Ellendune Centre in Wroughton last November - BBC Points West covered the event which featured elite level fencing and Sir Robert Buckland, our local MP, singing Land of My Fathers.
We have been honoured to receive 3 flags depicting iconic images in Ukraine personally sighed by General Valery Zaluznhy, the Commander in Chief of Ukraine armed forces.
As for the future we hope and pray for a swift end to hostilities - remembering, of course, there is only one aggressor in this conflict. More aid and many more buses and other vehicles will be sent into Ukraine.
We have found new partners who wish to donate hundreds of hospital beds and mattresses and much needed hygiene wipes. Our reputation for doing exactly what it says on the tin is getting around the whole country resulting in ever increasing donations. We are grateful to all.
Sadly there appears to be no end in sight to the war and the work at SHAP will continue for as long as our Ukrainian friends and colleagues need our support.