17th July 2025 • The HERALD • Page 11 v SHOP LOCALLY FOR SERVICE & VALUE v NEW FOREST PLUMBING AND MAINTENANCE 24/7 LTD *YOUR LOCAL 24 HOUR EMERGENCY CALL OUT PLUMBER* We provide a wide range of plumbing services, with an established reputation for quality, service and customer satisfaction. www.newforestplumbing.co.uk Contact us on 07912 092557 or 023 8194 0237 newforestplumbing@yahoo.com To advertise your business in The Herald, contact Sue on 023 8084 0815 or email: sjones@herald-publishing.co.uk CARE HOMES DONATE ESSENTIAL HEALTHCARE ITEMS TO NEW FOREST FOR UKRAINE Colten Care Home sta are helping Lymington based charity New Forest for Ukraine (NFFU) to maintain a lifeline for elderly, disabled and injured people who face the most extreme hardship and danger in war-torn Ukraine. New Forest for Ukraine was set up in 2022, run by volunteers; the charity delivers humanitarian aid to Ukraine, with over 550 metric tonnes of aid sent since 2022. Among donors who have come forward to lend support are three Colten Care homes, Linden House in Lymington, King shers in New Milton and Fernhill in Longham. It was former Linden House Home Manager Lorraine Bell, now managing Fernhill, who was the initial driving force behind the homes’ involvement. Lorraine 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.” Lorraine has a connection with NFFU through volunteer Sandra Quinn, and with the support of Linden House and the other homes, the pair began to arrange regular collections of mobility equipment, clothes and other surplus items that could be repurposed for Ukrainian shelters and hospitals. e items, which are not part of NHS provision, are gathered at Colten Care’s Ringwood warehouse and then o ered to NFFU. Items such as donated bed rails and overbed tables are now in use once again in a former factory dormitory in Kharkiv, which has been turned, through local action, into a centre for the elderly and disabled. “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.” Seeing images of donated items in use at the shelter, including a homeless, bedbound person holding a Colten bedrail and another using an overbed table, have been poignant and emotive for Colten Care sta . For more information on volunteering or donating money or goods to New Forest for Ukraine, visit: www.newforestforukraine.org Matty Davitt, Driver and Operator for the Colten Group, with NFFU charity volunteers, Richard, Sandra, Jackie and Andrea Blackfield Horticultural & Craft Show e schedules are out for the show at the Royal British Legion on Saturday 9th August, lots of classes, vegetables, owers, fruit, pot plants, ower arrangements, cookery, photography, cra s, knitting, cross stitch, crochet, painting and children’s classes too. Pick up a schedule from e Herald o ce or call Dawn on: 07825 908428.
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