On the night of Friday 7th February, as the flooding started to get worse, a local Facebook group called FLAG (Flooding on the Somerset Levels Action Group) put out a call for assistance. Ria Russell immediately responded to the posting offering Britannia Lanes of Somerset as a receiving centre.
During the Saturday afternoon we started to receive donations of food, blankets, clothing, pet food and toys. It soon became apparent the generosity of the local people knew no bounds and we knew we would need to arrange to open on Sunday to receive and sort effects for an hour to clear the back log. In the end we were on site from 11AM till 4.30PM receiving many more car and truck loads of effects.
Thankfully a team of local volunteers came in to assist the sorting and we ended up with 3 full self store units of food, duvets, pillows and toys and a further 350 boxes of clothing, bedding, towels and coats.
At this stage we are not receiving any more donations of effects but are currently try to get what we have collected to the front lines to assist with the effort. You can keep up to date with our efforts via our Facebook page and if you missed Angus Russell’s interview on ITV West Country you can watch the clip here.
