MITIE GROUP PLC Mitie has donated a lorryload of basic hygiene supplies to Ukrainian refugees who have travelled to the Global Humanitarian Centre in Poland.
The GE Operator Humanitarian Center in Warsaw offers temporary refuge and aid to those fleeing the war in Ukraine. They have supported over 52,000 refugees so far, offering a safe place to stay, medical care and psychological support as well as help to arrange onward travel through Europe.
Mark Donnelly, Mitie's Group Director of Operational Excellence and Business Transformation, bought the project to the attention of Mitie when he found out how desperately short of basic hygiene equipment the centre was. As he was already sponsoring two Ukrainian women in the UK, the plight of the Ukrainian people is close to Mark's heart.
He said: "My sister-in-law was helping at the Global Humanitarian Centre in Poland. The centre in Poland is equivalent in size to the NEC Birmingham in the UK, a huge venue that is quickly filling up with people in need. As more people arrive, the centre is increasingly in need of cleaning products. Hygiene in the camp is a big issue and becomes more desperate as the numbers of refugees increase. The centre was reaching out to UK companies for donations of cleaning products - as Mitie was in the process of scaling back its COVID-19 cleaning contracts, I had a feeling that there may be some stock available to help."
Mark contacted Iain Taylor, Head of Strategic Procurement at Mitie, who played a critical role in securing hygiene equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Iain said: "During the pandemic, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was very hard to get hold of. To counteract this, and to ensure we had enough essential equipment for our frontline employees, customers and visitors, we set up a warehouse with a partner called Stronghold. This enabled us to buy and store equipment in bulk and so continue our essential operations safely. Now that the Test and Trace project has ended in the UK, and COVID-19 procedures are much less stringent, we had some excess stock. Some will remain in use, some had already been sold on, and some we donated to charity. When Mark made us aware of the Global Humanitarian Centre in Poland, I knew that we were able to support them.
"Mitie agreed to pay the shipping fees to send an articulated lorry to Warsaw. With the help of Stronghold - who helped pack the lorry for free - and our amazing staff, we filled the lorry with a wide variety of basic hygiene supplies. This included sanitiser, toilet cleaner, wipes, spill kits, coveralls, gowns, masks, face shields, gloves and more.
"There were various challenges along the way - not least the customs procedures- but the lorry has arrived in Warsaw and we are delighted that we have been able to make a small difference to so many people."
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Mitie Group plc published this content on 08 August 2022 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 08 August 2022 13:34:01 UTC.
