Ukraine appeal targets 10,000 generators

The rental body coordinating the effort to provide aid to Ukraine has appealed for funds to send 10,000 mobile generators to the country to help through the winter.

The Plant & Hire Aid Alliance, whose Christmas appeal saw 30,000 Christmas presents sent to Ukraine children, has responded to Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s recent plea for generators and started a funding drive to buy as many as 10,000 gensets.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the Paris solidarity conference on 13 December, 2022, via videolink. (Photo: Reuters)

President Zelenskiy, speaking to a Paris conference via videolink on 13 December, said; “Thousands of Ukrainian companies, small and mid-size businesses, social services continue to work thanks to generators.

“Hospitals function thanks to generators. Thanks to generators, hundreds of thousands of jobs have been saved, Internet, mobile coverage.”

It is reported that many Ukrainians get three hours of electricity per day, not enough to combat temperatures that rarely rise above freezing. 

Jeremy Fish, the CEO of Ardent Hire who set up the Alliance, said just £270 can send a generator to keep families warm; “This includes the elderly, as well as small children and babies, who are at serious risk from the cold. We’ve all recently experienced the misery of bitterly cold weather, but just imagine going through that with no power for heating. It doesn’t bear thinking about.

“We’re appealing to colleagues across the UK and around the world, including the US hire industry, to join us to help reach this ambitious target of 10,000 generators.”

The Alliance said individuals or companies can donate in the knowledge that all funds will go directly towards generator orders for immediate dispatch.

To find out more, and to make your donation, please visit aid-alliance.com, or email ukraine@ardenthire.com. Donations can also be made directly at: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ukraine-gensets