Update: The Polish Centre's collection paused on Thursday March 10 as there are so many items to process, it will be up and running again later.
Volunteers from Newcastle's Polish community who are collecting aid for Ukraine have briefly stopped taking donations, but are looking for help with haulage.
Newcastle's Polish Centre (Ośrodek Polski) organised a huge donation drive to support Ukrainians in the wake of Russia invading and has been inundated with drop-offs.
Volunteer and Northumberland County Councillor Wojciech Ploszaj told ChronicleLive they have stopped taking donations, for now, although more will be needed later as the conflict rages.
The group will process what they have collected and concentrate on getting it to Ukrainian refugees in Poland, but collections are expected to resume and donations will be encouraged again.
Read more: Why thousands are booking Airbnb apartments in Kyiv - with no plan to go
Mr Ploszaj, an engineer based in Blyth, Northumberland, where he represents the Kitty Brewster ward on the county council, said: "At the moment we need to pause collections as it is a marathon, not a sprint. The Polish Centre will take them until Sunday, but other points are stopping soon."
He added: "We are asking people to slow down, which is hard to do as people want to help. We need to focus on sending donations to Poland now, to ease our load a little bit."
The Polish-led effort has secured a warehouse in Seaton Delaval. Now they are on the hunt for haulage companies to help with sponsoring or assisting the mission to deliver the aid to Poland, which neighbours Ukraine and has taken more than 1.2m Ukrainian refugees, according to UN figures published on March 8.
If you can help with organising or sponsoring transporting the aid to Poland, email Wojciech Ploszaj on wojciech.ploszaj@northumberland.gov.uk
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