Ultimate Products is the latest major housewares company to provide support for those fleeing from the war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Morleys Group is among the housewares retailers that are fundraising for charities providing humanitarian aid.
Oldham-based housewares supplier Ultimate Products (UPGS) has arranged for its logistics partner De Boer Transport to take a lorry loaded with donations to Poland. The 33 pallets on the lorry include an entire pallet donated by UP employees.
The initiative started when UP employees made donations for the Ukrainian humanitarian appeal, organised by accounts clerk Dawn Forrest. She reports: “Ultimate’s employees generously donated toiletries, blankets, sanitary ware, nappies, warm clothes, teddy bears and toys to help Ukrainian refugees.”
Dawn explains how the project gathered momentum: “After speaking to Ultimate’s managing director Andy Gossage on day one, he said UPGS would be happy to provide further help. The Ukrainian Centre in Manchester needed help getting their donations to Poland, so our directors stepped in and organised it.”
The delivery is being taken by De Boer Transport to Holland and then on to Inglot (a popular cosmetic company) in Poland, to be distributed as and when needed.
“The whole company have been amazing, and I would like to say a massive thank you to each and every one here at UPGS and a special thank you to the guys in the warehouse for all their help and hard work,” says Dawn.
On the retail side of the housewares industry, Morleys Group announced last week: ‘To help the humanitarian efforts to support Ukraine, we will be donating all proceeds from the sale of our carrier bags, 10% of every jute bag and 25% of all blue and yellow ribbon we sell to the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) for Ukraine.’ The retailer has also activated a charity button on its tills enabling customers to make donations to the DEC in their stores.
Independent housewares retailers that are proactively fundraising include Quince & Cook in Perth, which is currently donating £1 from all of its online orders to the British Red Cross to support the work of the Ukraine Red Cross and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
On its website, Robert Welch Designs is inviting online customers to make donations from £1 up to £50 to the DEC, which the housewares supplier is matching.
Meanwhile, PPG (whose non-stick cookware coatings include Eterna, Fusion, Quantanium and Eclipse) has made commitments to humanitarian relief and longer-term recovery support. The company is providing funding to Polska Akcja Humanitarna (a relief organisation in Poland), ICRC and People in Need.
PPG and the PPG Foundation is also the matching personal charity donations of its employees and providing product donations to local organisations. Malesia Dunn, executive director, PPG Foundation commented: “In times of crisis, we fulfil our company’s purpose to protect and beautify the world by helping our non-profit partners adapt to emerging challenges and provide immediate responses.”
Top: Lorry loaded with donations from the employees of Ultimate Products and Manchester’s Ukrainian Centre.
