An Ystradgynlais woman has raised £1,200 to support the victims on the Russo-Ukrainian warfront.

Heather Stowell Canfield, from Coelbren near Ystradgynlais, raised the funds as part of her organisation - From Coelbren to Ukraine and Back - which looks to support the victims of the war by helping them support their pets.

They have now managed to raise £1,241 to help them send vital equipment to the eastern-European warzone, as they look to donate anything that can be of use to animal owners including; dog crates, fleeces, baby’s nappies, dog and cat feed, baby food.

Heather Stowell Canfield, the founder of From Coelbren to Ukraine and Back spoke to the Brecon & Radnor Express about how the organisation got started: “I kept watching the news getting more and more upset and eventually said to my husband that I didn’t know what to do, but had to do something.

“The whole village and surrounding villages got behind us, and people were turning up with animal feed, human clothes, and medication we had enough to overfill our caravan, so we booked a ferry and went.

“We got to the Poland-Ukraine border where there is a huge empty Tesco shopping precinct type place. We went in, all the side shops were full of single camp beds, and people were being brought in by the coach load, it is the saddest thing I’d ever seen.

“One young woman hugged me and just cried she couldn’t believe what had happened to her beloved country, you had little kids coming in just carrying a toy - that was all they had left in the world.”

Ultimately, this tragic tale only inspired Heather to keep going, as she aims to support the victims of the war.

With no end in sight, she looks to raise £5000 so that the organisation can head to the Polish-Ukrainian border once more to help support the victims.

But why the focus on pets? Would her efforts not be better suited elsewhere?

Heather said: “The more items we can get into Ukraine the better placed the people will be with focusing on other things like rebuilding their country.

“We still need donations, we need our GoFundMe page building up for the next trip - we need medical supplies, animal feed.

“I need any animal feed company to sponsor us, we will advertise their company on our minibus.”

Finally, Heather admitted she wanted to pay tribute to the people of the Coelbren community who have helped the project.

“The times we are back here in Coelbren we still don’t stop.

“All of the volunteers look out for each other. There are so many WhatsApp groups and Facebook groups where people can ask for individual items like a stretcher or baby formula.

“It’s never about the individual, it’s one huge team or dysfunctional family that has risen out of it all,” said Heather.

If you would like to donate to Heather’s fundraiser, you can do so at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/from-coelbren-to-ukraine-and-back