Saving Ukrainian Lives
When Stuart Paver (Managing Director and second-generation member of Pavers Shoes) and his colleagues saw the horrifying scenes of the invasion of Ukraine unfolding, they felt compelled to do something. Giving a financial donation just didn’t feel like enough. They decided to fly to Romania, rent a minibus and drive to the Romania/Ukraine border to see what they could do on the ground.
Just five days later, they’d reached the Ukrainian/Romanian border, where they spoke to locals about what was needed. From there, they crossed the border and made the precarious drive to Odessa, where they visited a hospital and spoke to doctors about what medical supplies were needed. They heard that much of the hospital’s medicine was out of date and unsuitable for use. The chief surgeon at the hospital told Stuart of a 14-year-old girl he was treating who had been shot in the head, but the surgeon did not have the equipment to treat the girl.
Armed with a list of medicines and equipment that was desperately needed, they then drove back across the border to buy these before returning to Odessa. Luckily, they made it back in time to give the surgeon the equipment he needed to treat the girl’s gunshot wound, and her life was saved.
Stuart and his team have so far been able to make four trips into Ukraine and are planning more. In-between delivering medical supplies, they’ve been able to drive people who had no means of travel to hospitals. As a result of Stuart and his teams’ efforts, the Foundation has spent over £263K on medical aid including tourniquets to treat wounds, insulin, water purification tablets, and yeast for bread making.
Crossing the border into Ukraine
Stuart was able to bring his knowledge from his family business of how supply chains work to quickly identify where the required materials could be sourced. Additionally, they knew that they could only offer truly effective help to the people of Ukraine through an intimate knowledge on the ground- an understanding which was developed from years of running his family business and the deep connection that forged with his own community of York.
In honour of their mother who founded Pavers Shoes, Catherine Paver’s sons launched the Pavers Foundation in 2018. As a family firm with a passion for giving back to the world, the Pavers Foundation enables them to support causes and charities throughout the UK with a focus health, education and community. Pavers shoes provide 2% of their net profits to the Pavers Foundation following an initial donation of £2.5 million in 2018. The foundation has supported many charities including Prostate Cancer UK, Dementia UK and the Brain Tumour Charity and many more.
Pavers Shoes is an IFB member, and they thank many of the IFB members who have donated to their Foundation over the last few months.
If this story has inspired you to start a charitable initiative in your family business, please visit these resources or get in touch with the IFB team.
If you wish to make a donation towards Paver’s work in Ukraine, you can visit their fundraising page or contact steve.ovenden@pavers.co.uk to donate directly and without fees.