"We Are Making A Difference"

Some islanders who have donated to the Bailiff's Ukraine appeal have been seeing where their money goes.

Many of the teams delivering support on the frontline have been giving demonstrations of mine clearance equipment, maternity kits and baby incubators.

The event was arranged to form part of Ukraine Week.

150 community midwife bags have been sent to the Ukrainian frontline over the last few months, 88 of which have been funded by Jersey Overseas Aid.

The bags were designed for use by midwives in the community and are based on paramedic bags.

Consultant Midwife Clara Haken from UK charity Baby Lifeline says it's a tangible and direct way of providing assistance to women, babies and the communities in Ukraine.

"They're going to places where maternity services have been either damaged or not functioning very well, getting to women who are giving birth in abandoned buildings or in bunkers even with healthcare professionals, so that they've got this kit accessible to them when they need it.

Many births are very straightforward, but sometimes you can have unexpected emergencies and this has got resuscitation equipment for women and for babies, so if a baby is born and needs some help to start breathing, the person looking after that mother and baby has got the equipment there to do it.

The bags that have been sent to Ukraine have gone with crib cards of the care and also they've been translated into Russian and Ukrainian to make them accessible and useful for soldiers or anybody who could be attending a woman in less than ideal circumstances."

The baby incubators are energy efficient and weigh only 20kg, compared to traditional ones that weigh up to 100kg.

Thanks to money donated by people in Jersey, 51 incubators are now being used in Ukraine.

Doctors in Ukraine have been seeing a sharp rise in premature births, because of the stress and trauma the conflict is having on pregnant women.

James Roberts, the CEO and founder of mOm Incubators, says each one saves the lives of one to two babies a week.

"The device can be brought to the patient rather than the patient to the device. This means you can take this into bunkers to protect the nurses and the babies and it's as good as any other type of system. It's fully regulated, has the highest amount of testing available.

We've got a letter from the Deputy Health Minister of Ukraine saying they need another 100 of these immediately.

It's amazing that we've got a system that can really help.

This gives those Ukrainian babies a chance where before, they didn't have one."

Ukraine Week got underway on Sunday 21 August with around 200 islanders forming a human Ukraine flag at St Ouen's Bay.

They dressed in blue or yellow to make two coloured stripes on the sand at La Braye.

Some people went to work dressed in blue and yellow today (24 August) and a blue and yellow-themed black-tie dinner is being held at the Field Squadron to celebrate Ukraine's national holiday.

A story hour is taking place at Jersey Library tomorrow (25 August) between 11am and midday with a reading of the book 'How War Changed Rondo'

It's a picture book written and illustrated by a husband and wife from Ukraine.

On 27 August, there will be a Ukrainian Market Day at West Centre.

There will be stalls with traditional Ukrainian treats, a raffle and some Ukrainian music between 11am and 4pm.

Islanders are also being encouraged to hold their own fundraising activities.