LIKE an awful lot of people, staff at Crediton vehicle repair business, Fix Auto have been profoundly affected by the suffering of the Ukrainian people following the invasion by Russia.

As a family-run business, staff at Fix Auto, were very keen to do whatever they could to help.

Initially this consisted of a clothing, bedding and toiletries collection amongst staff that was taken to the Polish-Ukrainian border by a contact of one of the Polish employees.

Alena Woolacott, Finance Director at Fix Auto said: “We were delighted by the response from our staff and wanted to do more.

“We saw in the news that whilst these sorts of contributions were obviously appreciated, actually the most effective way that we could help was to donate money to organisations such as the Red Cross who have the infrastructure and experience to get aid to where it is most needed. “Therefore as a family we donated money ourselves and my sister, our Operations Director, Erika Woolacott also decided to set up a JustGiving page and organise some fundraising activities through the company so that all of our staff could contribute, no matter their budget, and we could encourage our customers, others in our industry and locals to donate.

“All the proceeds from these events are being donated to the British Red Cross Ukrainian Humanitarian Appeal.”

A traditional Filipino lunch was held at the Newton Abbot site and raised £70.

Staff at the Crediton site baked cakes for a bake sale which was held on the forecourt and raised £250.

The first barbecue which was held on the forecourt of the workshop in Crediton on Friday, March 18 raised £400.

A second barbecue was held on Wednesday, March 23 which raised more than £300.

Alena added: “We have been extremely fortunate to have been supported in this endeavour by several other local businesses who very kindly donated produce for free so that the cost of the events didn’t fall solely on us.

“These were Bristows of Devon, Cox’s Butchers of Crediton, Creedy Carver, Oliver’s bakery, Peck and Strong and Morrisons Crediton branch.

“Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure.

“Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to The British Red Cross Society, so it’s the most efficient way to give - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.”