It may only be the beginning of October, but for us, the Winter Aid Project has already started.

Every year, Crosscause sends winter aid to Romania and Ukraine, and there is always a huge amount of work to be done before the trucks are ready to leave. This year, one of the main requests we received from our Ukrainian partners was for school furniture.

With Russian bombardments continuing and civilian communities living under constant pressure from repeated missile and drone attacks, many schools in Ukraine are preparing spaces in basements, shelters and underground areas where children can continue their education more safely. Desks, chairs, tables, blackboards and storage units may sound like very ordinary things, but right now they can make a real difference.

School furniture is actually something we know quite well.

For many years, Crosscause has collected used school furniture from schools around Ireland and sent it to Ghana, where it has been given a new life in schools that badly needed it. Over the years, we have built up experience, contacts and a good understanding of how to organise this type of project.

And then, at exactly the right time, something amazing happened.

Morgan Furniture in Drogheda contacted us and offered Crosscause a huge donation of school furniture from a warehouse that is currently being cleared.

The scale of the donation is incredible. We expect to be able to fill almost three full 40 foot tracks.

Most of the furniture consists of tables and chairs, but there are also blackboards, school storage units and other useful items. Everything is in excellent condition, and many of the items are completely new.

A donation of this size is fantastic, but of course it also means a lot of work.

Furniture needs to be sorted, moved, loaded and prepared for transport. It is hard physical work for our volunteers, and there will be plenty more of it over the coming weeks.

Thankfully, we are not doing it alone.

Once again, we have the support of our long-standing transport partner BM Transport and the always-reliable Barry. Their help with transport and logistics makes a huge difference to our Winter Aid Project. Year after year, they have been incredibly generous with their help, providing transport and assisting us with the logistics of getting aid to Romania and back.

Having that kind of reliable support behind us makes an enormous difference.

There will be plenty of lifting, loading and organising ahead, but we are ready for it.

We know where this furniture is going, we know why it is needed, and we know how important it can be for children who are trying to continue something as normal as going to school in very abnormal circumstances.

It is still early in the season, but Winter Aid 2026 is already well underway.

And this is only the beginning.