Ukraine Is Freezing — The Church Must Respond

Ukraine - Cold weather
Ukraine - Cold weather

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Ukraine is enduring the harshest winter in 20 years. Temperatures have fallen to –19°C, and millions are without heating after deliberate attacks on the nation’s energy infrastructure.

Families are living in dark, freezing apartments. Elderly and disabled people are trapped in high-rise buildings with no lifts. Children are sleeping in coats and blankets. Homes are flooding as frozen pipes burst.

This is not simply a humanitarian crisis, it is a test of compassion.

“If one part suffers, every part suffers with it.” (1 Corinthians 12:26)

The need Is urgent. Freezing conditions are expected to continue for at least another ten days. Every night without heat places the most vulnerable at serious risk.

How You Can Respond Today:

  • Give generously — as God leads you. Every gift matters.
  • Share this appeal with your church, small group, and Christian networks.
  • Pray earnestly for protection, warmth, endurance, and peace for the people of Ukraine and for those serving on the ground.

To donate now, visit the donation page on our website: Make a Donation – International Aid Trust  please use reference ‘Ukraine Winter’

Your gift becomes an answer to prayer, your donation will help provide:

  • Generators to restore power to homes and shelters
  • Gas heaters so families can survive the cold
  • Power banks and inverters for light and communication
  • Warm clothing and bedding for those sleeping in freezing homes

These supplies allow families not only to survive—but to hold onto hope. Putin seeks to break the spirit of the Ukrainian people through suffering. But the Church stands in the gap.

“Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” (1 John 3:18)

Thank you for being the hands and feet of Christ in this moment.

Blessings, love and thanks

Bernard,
Rev. Bernard Cocker, Founder & CEO

Christmas Message 2025

Christmas 2025 Message
Christmas 2025 Message

Our Christmas Email Newsletter is out now!

Click here to read it.

With an encouraging message from our Founder and CEO, Rev. Bernard Cocker, Christmas closing times, links to videos of your shoeboxes on their journey and last minute gift ideas.

The Trustees and Staff of International Aid Trust wish you joy and peace, in the name of our Saviour Jesus Christ this Christmas time.

Advent Reflection

Advent Reflection for 2025
Advent Reflection for 2025

Advent Reflection

Click here to download our Advent Reflection for 2025.

This year we’re looking at the journey of the Magi to seek Jesus, using the words of Matthew’s gospel, each day there is a verse to reflect on, or an area of our work to pray for, as well as a picture you can print out and colour.

We hope that in this busy season it will help you to enjoy time reflecting on the wonder of Jesus’ birth, and praying for the work being done today through our teams in the UK and around the world, in Jesus’ name.

 

Eden Singers Concert – Saturday 18th October

Join us for a fantastic concert by the Eden Singers!

On Saturday 18th October, 7.00pm (Doors open 6.30pm)

At Claremont Church, St George’s Road, Bolton, BL1 2BY

The Eden Singers present: A Tribute to the Beatles – taking you back to the 60s to hear some of their greatest hits – & A Little Bit of Country – a foot stomping, hand clapping, yee har kind of a show!

Tickets only £7 including refreshments, all proceeds to International Aid Trust. 

Free parking at the Salvation Army car park, just across the road from Claremont Church.

Please email julie@internationalaidtrust.org.uk to reserve your tickets or with any questions.Eden Singers Concert Poster

Our new furniture shop in Tarleton is now open!

Exciting news…

Our new furniture shop in Tarleton is now open!

Tarleton charity furniture shop

The furniture store is next to our warehouse:
International Aid Trust, Briery Lane, Off Blackgate Lane, Tarleton, Preston, PR4 6UU
For all enquiries, please call 01772 283505

For Google Maps directions, click below:
https://share.google/vvBicEjagrD7imurt

Opening hours:
Monday – Friday: 9.30am – 4.30pm
Saturday: 9.30am – 3.30pm

There’s lots of good quality secondhand furniture for sale at reasonable prices, including:
Sofas & 3-piece suits, tables & chairs, white goods & small domestic appliances, beds, office furniture, home decor, bric-a-brac, framed artwork, and much more…

We are now collecting furniture donations and undertaking house clearances in the following areas:
Southport, Tarleton, Hesketh Bank, Banks, Formby, Croston, Bretherton, Leyland, Ulnes Walton, Preston

Please call in, have a browse and meet Manager Michelle and her team.

Tarleton charity furniture shop Tarleton charity furniture shop

Walk, Pray, Give for Ukraine – May 2025

Walk, Pray, Give for Ukraine

Walk, Pray, Give is back! Join us throughout May to walk (or run, cycle or wheel etc.) the distance from our warehouse in Tarleton to Donetsk, Ukraine, raising funds for another emergency vehicle, and to pray for all those affected by the war.

How does Walk, Pray, Give work?

Walkwe aim to walk a collective total of 2,220 miles between everyone joining in, throughout the month of May.

We have two organised walks that you can join in with, both of about 5 miles.

Saturday 10th May, Tarleton, 10am

Meet at our warehouse: International Aid Trust, Briery Lane, Off Blackgate Lane, Tarleton, Preston, PR4 6UU, just before 10am for a low level walk including country lanes and the River Douglas.

Light refreshments available before and after the walk.

Saturday 17th May, Edgworth, 10am

Meet at the Barlow Institute car park, Bolton Road, Edgworth, Bolton, BL7 0AP, just before 10am, for a countryside and woodland ramble.

There is a café on site for refreshments.

You can also walk wherever you like, or run, cycle, wheel, swim etc. by yourself or with friends, from Thursday 1st May up to Saturday 2nd March and send the amount of miles you’ve walked each week by email to julie@internationalaidtrust.org.uk or post in the event on Facebook.

Here is a poster for the event that you can download and print or share: https://bit.ly/43VbbBH

Walk Pray Give 25 poster

Pray – download prayer cards to pray at home, with your group or church or whilst walking, for all those affected by the war.

There will also be an opportunity to pray together after both of the group walks if you choose to. You can download prayer cards here: https://bit.ly/3G6ca8b

Give – donate £1 per mile you walk, get sponsored or sponsor those walking, to help us to fund the purchase of a 4×4 pickup and its transport to Ukraine.

Our target is to raise the £4,500, to purchase a suitable vehicle and transport it to where it is needed in Ukraine.

Donations can be paid into our bank account: Royal Bank of Scotland, Our Sort Code: 16 28 16, Our Account Number: 10075885,  or through the donations page of our website.

 You can download a sponsorship form here: https://bit.ly/4ig3BVO

If you would like to collect practical aid for our Ukraine Appeal, here is the list of items that are priorities to send: https://bit.ly/3OlDsbZ

The warehouse is always open Monday – Friday 9am – 4pm for donations and Saturday 9am – 12noon for drop off of donations

 

Emergency Vehicles to Ukraine – 9th March 2025

Emergency Vehicles to Ukraine

Our next batch of emergency vehicles comprising of four fully functioning ambulances and two 4×4 pickups, will be setting off for Ukraine from Bolton Town Hall at 2.00pm on Sunday 9th March.

A team of military veterans including The Mayor of Bolton, the Mayor of Westhoughton and the Mayor of Blackrod, and friends from the Royal British Legion will be driving, along with Igor Reshetov our Logistics and Distribution Manager and Trustee Jon Field.

Please join us at the Town Hall at 2.00pm on Sunday 9th March to hear an update on the difference these lifesaving vehicles make, from our CEO & Founder, Rev. Bernard Cocker, to pray for the journey and for those the ambulances will help and to wave them off!

There will also be opportunities to donate towards our ‘Ambulances and Support Vehicles for Ukraine’ fund and to donate practical aid to be sent to Ukraine at one of our International Aid Trust vans. Here is a link to the list of practical aid we will be collecting:

 

 

 

 

Donations towards our ‘Ambulances and Support Vehicles for Ukraine’ fund can be made here:

 

 

 

 

Thank you very much for your support!

 

Warehouse move!

We have now moved to our new warehouse!

The address is: International Aid Trust, 132 Blackgate Lane, Tarleton, Preston, Lancs. PR4 6UU.

Opening times: Monday – Friday: 9am – 4pm, Saturday: 9am – 12 noon

Telephone 01772 619888

 

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