A charity which supports orphanages and other social-care projects in a deprived region of Ukraine is sending out a lorry-load of aid this spring.

Trustees from Take Hope Yorkshire, based in Denholme, will travel to the Eastern European country to meet the lorry, containing clothes, shoes, bedding, bicycles and toiletries.

Working in Vinogradiv, in western Ukraine, Take Hope provides aid for orphanages, supplies wheelchairs for children with disabilities and supports a charity providing 200 daily meals to poor families. Working with West Yorkshire Fire Service, Take Hope has also supplied equipment and uniforms for Vinogradiv’s severely under-funded fire crews.

Take Hope was launched in 1995 by Andrew McVeigh to help Ukraine, which has struggled since its independence after the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991.

“Each time I go I see improvements in the infrastructure, but there’s very little funding or welfare for those in need,” he said. “The recession has slowed development down further.

“Much of our work is at an orphanage where conditions are very basic.

“Children sleep on broken beds with stained mattresses. Their toilets are a run-down outdoor block. They have a basic education but are classed as special-needs and outcast by society.”

Take Hope aims to equip a health centre newly-built in the orphanage grounds.

“It will be used by the children and local people,” said Mr McVeigh.

He is heartened by the support from local people. “Haworth Rotary Club has teamed up with a rotary club in Ukraine to buy beds and computers,” he said. “A Haworth lady gave us 300 home-made dolls and craft toys for the orphanage. We’re very grateful.”

The charity has been boosted by student Rachael Purvis, who raised more than £1,000 running the Loch Ness Marathon. Rachael, of Oxenhope, hopes to visit Ukraine with Take Hope.

“It’s shocking to learn about that level of poverty so close,” she said.

For more about Take Hope Yorkshire, visit takehope.org.uk