A cash grant of £7,500 ($9,335) at the end of 2024 by event industry foundation Meeting Needs helped finance the delivery of ambulances, food and medicine to Ukraine last month.
This latest activity, in partnership with Mighty Convoy, provided the cash for the purchase of an ex-NHS ambulance to carry food aid donated by Country Food Trust. It was the 10th time Mighty Convoy had made the 1,200-mile, 23-hour journey to Lviv from Surrey with medical aid donated by Ukrainian Medical Association of the United Kingdom (UMAUK) and the International Christian Medical and Dental Association (ICMDA).
Mighty Convoy buys the ambulances when they reach the end of their useful life, after about 9 years in the UK, and their team of volunteers drives the ambulances and pick-up trucks filled with urgent medical supplies to teams on the ground in Lviv, Ukraine, where they are left for local use.
Meeting Needs was founded 22 years ago by a group of four event industry professionals to help those in need around the world.
The Ukraine announcement follows other significant projects and successes through Meeting Needs at the end of 2024, including The Tushinde School Outreach Programme, reducing child abuse in 12 schools impacting over 10,000 children, along with teachers and parents, in Kenya; Mwangozomumu Primary School, completing a renovation of three classrooms to provide a dry and warm environment for more than 100 pupils.
“To date, Meeting Needs has raised more than £1.7 million, and as a foundation structured around a volunteer work force, is able to donate around 85 per cent of its income to good causes - a very high percentage by normal charity standards,” Chris Parnham, Chair, Meeting Needs, tells TTN.
“Meeting needs focuses on sustainable causes and projects where the foundation can demonstrate a high return on investment and feedback detailed information about the impact on beneficiaries to its donors and fundraisers.”