A Wrexham charity has told of the “eye-opening” trip to Ukraine as they saw how the donations were helping those affected by war.

Teams4U, based in Llay, has been running a donation appeal to help Ukrainian refugees in neighbouring counties and their home country and set out to see the impact the items were having and what more they can do to help.

Simon Cooke spent four days traveling between Romania and Ukraine, from Monday, April 11 to Thursday, April 14.

Read more: Wrexham woman raises money for Ukrainian refugees

Teams4U has now set up a free shop in Romania for Ukrainian refugees. Every day they can get 10 items from the shop for free.

Simon also spoke to refugees in the Chernivtsi district area of Ukraine, who have been affected by the war in different ways, but said he saw “some amazing work” being done.

Simon also had a conversation with someone who is storing the donations sent to Ukraine by Teams4U who opened his eyes to the realities of the war.

He said: “I interviewed a guy who runs the warehouse on the border and asked him what other items they needed and what we could send out for them, and his answer was pregnancy tests for the women who has been raped so they know their situation, and body bags. That really hit home.”

Pregnancy tests have now been added to the donation list and they are speaking to specialists who are going to try and get the body bags.

Read more: PISC appeal for volunteers in Wrexham to load donations for Ukrainians

Simon also visited an orphanage for children with learning disabilities in Magala, Chernivtsi district.

It would normally house 10 children and 15 members of staff but since the war, 54 children are now staying at the orphanage, and the staff are struggling.

Simon added: “It was horrible to see, I have worked with adults with disabilities before I did this job for 10 years and so it was just horrific to see the situation there.

“The mayor of the area that was with us had to leave and go outside. She was in tears outside and it was just horrible to see. The staff were really upset telling us because they care themselves that’s why they’re doing the job, but they just can’t cope with it and it’s things like this that people don’t see.”

The orphanage is now looking at getting some toilets put in and Teams4U wants to do some fundraising for it as well as other projects to help out where they can.

The appeal for donations is ongoing, and anything that people can donate would be greatly appreciated.

For more information, visit https://teams4u.com/ or check their Facebook page.