When the war in Ukraine began, Infineum took immediate action to support the Ukrainian people affected by the aggression of the Russian Government by donating $150,000 to the International Committee of the Red Cross. In addition, Infineum has taken significant actions to ensure compliance with the subsequent sanctions against Russia.

Employees also stepped up quickly to help, such as Paul Wilson in the UK, who raised money to take much-needed supplies directly into Ukraine working with the charity Prosperity for Ukraine in London. He and his wife Svetlana, who is Ukrainian, have sent over 60 trucks with around 1,800 tonnes of aid to Ukraine in the first few months of the conflict. This and other work to support Ukrainians led to Svetlana receiving the highest honour of award from the Rotary Club in Swindon.

A group of other colleagues from the UK spent a day packing boxes of donations into two lorries, totalling around 25 tonnes each, heading to Ukraine. Peter Hobin, also in the UK, together with his wife Rachel, held a fundraising event in their local village, raising over £2000 for the Disasters Emergency Committee, appeal for Ukraine.

Another employee, Enrico Franchini in Italy, rented an eight-seater van and drove straight to the Polish/Ukrainian border to collect a family of six people who had been assigned refuge in Genoa, Italy. He drove more than 3400 km round trip to get the family safely to Genoa. While all Italian colleagues implemented a salary sacrifice scheme to convert hours worked into a monetary donation, raising over €8,000 for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Infineum’s CEO Trevor Russell said: “Our hearts go out to all those impacted by events in Ukraine. As a company, we will continue to support any action aimed at relieving the suffering of the Ukrainian people and I am hopeful that we will help them in a tangible way. I am immensely proud of all the colleagues who have been supporting the cause tirelessly since the war started.”

All those taking part in activities in aid of the Ukrainian humanitarian crisis used their volunteering day, which consists in an extra day of annual leave that Infineum offers to every employee to support their communities. This is part of our Sustainability approach and helps us deliver on the UN sustainability goal 3 in supporting people and communities.