As a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, large numbers of Ukrainians had to flee to their homeland to escape the war. In order to help these Ukrainian refugees, a “Furniture bank”recently opened in the Czech city of Brno Exhibition Center G1 hall. The “Furniture Bank”is a joint project of the Brno Municipal Company Sako Brno and the city of Brno’s Department of Environment and Social Welfare. Staff of the company Sako Brno and the Social Welfare Department collect functional furniture from residents or furniture companies, and then send the cleaned-up furniture to the shelters of Ukrainian refugees. After a series of preparatory work, “Furniture Bank”has now been put into operation. “As long as there is a need for Ukrainian refugees, the furniture bank will continue to operate,”said Petr Hladik, Brno’s first deputy mayor and guarantor of the project. Generally speaking, people who have fled from the Ukraine to Brno should have brought only basic necessities. Such large furniture as beds, tables and chairs is certainly not available. So in the meantime, we need to work together to make up for as much as we can for their temporary loss. What they need most now are basic furniture, especially tables, chairs, wardrobes, beds, kitchen utensils, sheets and mattresses. That’s what we’re trying to provide for them.”

“So we are asking for help not only from the citizens of Brno, but also from businesses. As long as it is serviceable furniture, old and new, we are happy to accept it. Next we will open a “Furniture bank”for refrigerators, freezers and washing machines, Peter Hladii added. At the same time, the city of Brno has increased its cooperation with the company Sako Brno and has begun to expand its assistance. Sleeping bags, blankets and mattresses can be transported to six selected waste treatment centres (Dus Íkova, Havalova, Okru ní, Sochorova, veeve íand Ukrviv Jinsk á) before being sent to the city of Lviv in Ukraine (Lviv) . “Based on feedback from a large number of Brno residents, we will also expand our product collection to include items such as backpacks, pencil boxes, stationery, notebooks and toys. But again, we will only provide products that are available to Ukrainian families. Unfortunately, some of the donated bags were damaged and could not be used,”Peter Hladii concluded. As of March 6, the Furniture Bank had collected more than 300 sleeping bags, 450 blankets and 200 mattresses.