Care home staff are helping NFFU maintain a lifeline for elderly, disabled and injured people who
face the most extreme hardship and danger in war-torn Ukraine.

Among donors who have come forward to lend support are three Colten Care homes, two in the
New Forest and one in Longham near Bournemouth, and the provider’s Ringwood head office and
warehouse.

Colten Care is actively recycling surplus and unwanted items from older people’s care by sending to
NFFU direct. Where appropriate families who want to, to donate too.

The items, which are not part of NHS provision, are gathered at Colten Care’s Ringwood warehouse
and then offered to NFFU.

Much of what has been donated so far has been sent by NFFU to an elderly people’s shelter in the
Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, close to the Russian border, in a former factory dormitory which has
been turned, through local action, into a centre for the elderly and disabled.

Other items donated include walking frames, crutches, shower chairs, clothes, bedding, medical
equipment, hygiene and sanitary supplies and unopened nutrition drinks and supplements.
They are among thousands of aid supplies, including food, hygiene and medical first-aid items,
gathered and shipped to help the elderly and vulnerable from donors in Hampshire, Dorset and as
far afield as Birmingham, Cardiff and Eastbourne.

A quarter of Ukraine’s 39 million population is aged over 60. Aid agencies say older people are
disproportionately affected by the war. According to the UN, people aged over 60 accounted for
nearly half of civilian deaths near the front in 2024 and are often the last to leave frontline
territories. There can be an especially acute needs due to depleted healthcare facilities and growing
numbers of displaced people, now estimated to number 5 million, often older people, many
suffering from dementia or PTSD, being separated from families and friends.

“The Ukrainian people need our help now more than ever,” said Mandy Haynes, lead trustee for
NFFU. “With usual facilities increasingly out of action, individual Ukrainians are setting up makeshift
shelters for elderly people as well as children and families. They are doing their best to care for
people with all kinds of complex conditions including dementia and amputations while most –
including the carers – suffer from PTSD and other trauma caused by the conflict in Ukraine.”

Colten Care’s former Linden House Home Manager Lorraine Bell, now Manager at Fernhill said
“When I was at Linden House, there were two Ukrainians in our team. They told me about their
husbands fighting in the war and the plight of their families, friends and other people they knew in
their country, from children all the way up to people aged 90 living with dementia. When they were
speaking on the phone, they could hear bombs going off in the background. I always felt for them.
We got talking about what we could do here to help those left with nothing because of the war.”

Reflecting on the work of NFFU and the contribution of donors such as Colten Care, Mandy said:
“We are a small organisation trying to make a big impact. Colten Care is one of our supporters
helping us to take a lead with the care industry but we are keen to engage with others in the sector
too. Our message is to please do what you can to donate. We only work directly with people in

Ukraine who tell us what their needs are. They’ve told us that the most vital humanitarian aid we
can provide is food, hygiene and medical first-aid supplies. There is great demand for walking
frames, shower chairs, bed rails, walkers and unused nutrition drinks. One way or another, these
items have a use.”

Lorraine said seeing the images of people in the Kharkiv shelter resting on and using Colten
equipment was powerful. “I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “These are human beings, just like us, who
deserve to be valued and respected, but are caught up in the most devastating and extreme
circumstances. Seeing our donations in situ was a moving, poignant moment.”

In response to a poem expressing gratitude to NFFU written by shelter volunteers in Kharkiv and
translated from Ukrainian, Lorraine has penned her own poem of response to them.

 

To our friends in the Ukraine
Around the world, day and night,
We see your courage, burning bright.
Skies dark, hearts in pain,
You stand with grace, through loss.
You call us friends, we thank you
Friendship, sincere, begins to grow
Not in the ease of peaceful days,
But in the hardest, hardest ways.
We send what little we can give
So you have hope, so you may live.
In return, you gave us more:
The strength of spirit unwavering.
For every parcel, delivered with care,
We tucked in love and hope in a prayer.
And now your words that reach our shore,
will touch our hearts forevermore.
May peace soon return, and joy arise,
May songs of freedom fill your skies.
We stand with you, through every test
In grief, in hope, you have our prayers.
Divided by distance but soul to soul,
We Walk with you, and share your goal.
As the sun breaks through the grey,
Together with hope, we greet each day

Lorraine Bell
25.06.2025
 

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