York shoe retailer donates field hospital to Ukrainian front lines

Stuart Paver, joint managing director at Pavers, said: “Every penny donated to our Ukraine fundraiser is spent on medicines and lifesaving supplies at wholesale prices; no expenses, no overheads.

"We are proud to be making a difference on the front line in Ukraine with the recent deployment of a field hospital, however, more supplies are desperately needed, which is why we’re continuing our fundraising efforts to raise money for evacuation stretchers and water purification tablets”.

Mr Paver, alongside executive assistant Steve Ovenden, has travelled to Ukraine several times over the past 18 months to provide humanitarian aid and supplies.

The group has raised over £325,000 to date, with every penny donated to the Ukraine fundraiser spent on essential items and supplies.

The military unit in Ukraine has thanked the Pavers Foundation for their ongoing support in a video posted online.

The field hospital has already been deployed on Ukraine’s front line.

Mr Paver will return to Ukraine in August 2023 to deliver evacuation stretchers and much needed water purification tablets.

Pavers was founded in 1971 by Catherine Paver who, at the age of 43, took out a £200 bank loan to start selling footwear at homeware parties.

The Pavers Foundation was launched in 2018, with an initial donation of £2.5 million from Pavers Shoes and the private estate of the late Catherine Paver, to enable charitable giving from the business and its 1500 employees.

The foundation aims to support local charities and causes “close to the hearts” of Pavers’s colleagues throughout the UK, Ireland and beyond.

Donations are made through employee grants, as well as the firm’s charity of the year initiative and donations made on behalf of the Paver family.

Since 2018, Pavers has donated over £1.7 million through its Foundation, supporting causes in areas including health, education, community, and the environment.

The Pavers Foundation also recently completed its tree planting project at a site in Wheldrake, York to create the first Pavers Foundation Forest.

The land has now been planted with a mixture of 1,170 native trees, which will establish over the next few years, and in the spring months will be developed to include a wildflower meadow as well as a wetland area.

Last month, the foundation also donated £2,660 to the Pershore Plus Volunteer Centre, as well as £1,000 to Cancer Research UK.

Each year Pavers Shoes gives 2 per cent of net profit, alongside the total profits from the sale of carrier bags in stores, to the Pavers Foundation.