My Weekly
On the 16th April Kate Chapman of My Weekly did a fantasistic write up of Boxes of Hope.
Meet Amanda Baxter, the Lincolnshire woman who is helping people in need across the world, one box at a time
Even though she’s faced tough times in her own life, Amanda Baxter has always wanted to help and support others who are facing hardship and tragedy.
She started humanitarian aid project Boxes of Hope from her dining room table, spurred on by the war in Ukraine, and has guided it to become an international organisation helping numerous people in the UK and overseas every day.
“I started filling shoe boxes a few years ago when my son was in the Marines,” 57-year-old Amanda, from Holbeach, in Lincolnshire, recalls. “Sam was only 22 when he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2008. I was beside myself; I didn’t know what to do.
“I filled some shoeboxes with sweets and silly games and sent them out to the troops, so they could have a laugh and keep their spirits up.
“They arrived the day after a horrific incident, in which three members of Sam’s unit were killed.
“When I spoke to him a few days later he said the boxes couldn’t have come at a better time. They were a real morale boost, and he asked me to send more.”
Amanda was inspired to help again following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017. Having grown up in a London tower block, she couldn’t sit by without helping. She filled a van with more shoeboxes full of essentials and drove down to the capital to deliver them herself.
“I just couldn’t understand what had happened,” she says. “I saw a real power of community, but what I saw that day changed my life. It was terrible.
“I wanted these people to know that the people in Lincolnshire cared about them and what was happening to them.”
Having suffered bouts of ill health including arthritis, Amanda was recovering from surgery at home in 2022 when the war in Ukraine started. She recalls staying up all night as the news unfolded on television.
“It was so horrifying to see – all those Ukrainian people, women and children, fleeing their homes, carrying just a few items that they’d managed to grab in plastic bags,” she says. “I knew I had to do something – send them some boxes, and that’s where it really started.”
Amanda turned her dining room into a hub and filled hundreds of boxes with toiletries, items for children, gloves, hats and other essentials. Soon donations were pouring in from all over the country.
“I’d never seen anything like it,” she says. “All these things kept coming and took over my house. I was offered the use of a nearby warehouse, and last year we moved to another site.”
Boxes of Hope became a key distributor of aid to those fleeing the conflict and two years on has sent 24 18-tonne lorry loads of aid including non-perishable food to Ukraine. Another will soon be on its way.
Amanda has also visited the country herself, spending two weeks there in June 2022 after following one of the lorries out to Lviv.
The aim of her trip was to see things first hand, meet the people the aid was helping and to build a proper support network. She also visited an orphanage and other community buildings.
“Our lorry was delayed at the border, it was so dangerous out there, but we wanted to show these people that there is support for them,” Amanda explains. “I was taken to this halfway place, where a school had been set up. There were people sleeping on the floor downstairs.
“The children were taken to the basement half a dozen times a day when the air raid sirens sounded. It was shocking that people were living like this and even worse in winter when temperatures fell to minus twenty degrees.”
Under Amanda’s leadership Boxes of Hope has continued to grow, receiving funding from the National Lottery and Postcode Lottery to help continue its work.
The charity is the first point of call for anyone arriving in Lincolnshire from Ukraine, as well as other refugees, and its team directs them to various agencies for help such as food banks, mental health support, medical services and more.
Many of those arriving have little in the way of belongings. The charity also has a shop in Holbeach, where people can buy items ranging from school uniform to crockery, and a warehouse where they can make an appointment to find furniture and other items as they start to rebuild their lives.
Over the winter Boxes of Hope teamed up with several local authorities and organisations to provide vulnerable residents across Lincolnshire with packs containing items such as hot water bottles to help see them through the cold months.
“This has gone beyond just helping people in Ukraine. It’s safe to say this has completely taken over my own life,” says Amanda.
“It’s definitely a 24/7 job, there’s always something to do, but it’s wonderful to be able to help so many people.
“And it is making a difference. It’s saving people’s lives – we have helped to save lots of lives. I’m very proud of the work Boxes of Hope is doing.”
Amanda’s caring gesture was just the start
Donations continue to pour in
The shop in Holbeach
Boxes Of Hope… And Beyond
As well as sending aid overseas, Boxes of Hope helps numerous people across the wider Lincolnshire community.
The team runs a community hub in Holbeach High Street, where anyone in need can take shelter in a safe space and there is always a warm drink and listening ear available.
It also hosts weekly craft sessions for people to get involved in community projects, or learn to upcycle and repair items like clothing, so nothing is ever wasted.
The organisations has also supported animal shelters and even a zoo with donations of non-perishable food.
