Around 14 tonnes of items have been collected to help Ukrainians, One of the collection drive organisers in Mellieha, Georgina Devlin-George, told The Malta Independent.

It all started when a Polish national, Renata Kreglicka, wanted to collect items to help the refugees crossing the Ukrainian border into Poland.

It quickly turned into a large collection drive, with people driving to Mellieha to drop off goods, which include clothes and food.

Georgina Devlin-George, one of the organisers in Mellieha, told this newsroom that yesterday around 6 tonnes of items were moved from Mellieha, and today another 8 are planned to be moved either to a warehouse or to the aviation site. Tomorrow, the items will be taken by plane to Poland, to be given to refugees at the border, she said.

One of the organisers will also go by plane to ensure that the goods are delivered.

Devlin-George said that she is considering organising a similar collection drive in the coming weeks, possibly to other countries that border Ukraine where refugees are escaping to.

A problem the organisers face, Devlin-George said in terms of any future collections, is organising air transport for the items and collaboration with organisations on the ground to take and distribute them to Ukrainian refugees. While Kreglicka will organise the first shipment on the ground in Poland, Devlin-George said, "we need more organisations willing to accept donations and distribute accordingly, and not just in Poland, for future collections."

PN MP Robert Cutajar posted a video on Facebook yesterday, promoting the collection drive, and later said that he is "very pleased to have given my contribution to this just cause."