I've raised £25000 to evacuate Ukrainians from the front line by buying an off-road vehicle.
Organised by Chris Parry
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*My previous goal was to raise £17,500, and somehow we've manage to raise it, thanks to all of you out there, thank you so much!
However, due to the exceptionally rare and fortunate position I'm in which is to share my experiences via BBC, Sky, iNews etc I've increased it. I've done this as there are a team of us here, all working together evacuating civilians from the front line. Therefore, any money raised beyond £17,500 will be used to fund any future expenses which would otherwise stop us from working e.g. mechanical repairs.*
My name's Chris Parry and I'm a foreign volunteer in Ukraine evacuating civilians from the front line to safety.
To do this I desperately need an off-road vehicle to deal with the terrible road conditions, which will only get worse in winter.
(Below: 3 year old with her mother (27) evacuated from the front)
An example of an evacuation which we did was of the young boy (4) and his mother (25), in the photo above.
- They were in Southern Bakhmut, where they had been waiting for an evacuation by any group for a month, but nobody would go to that area. Our group then received the request and made it our priority to try to evacuate them the next day.
When we arrived there was a firefight between Russian and Ukrainian soldiers in the next street, while a large artillery battle was happening all around.
An hour later they were safe, warm and fed at a hospital in a nearby city. Oh yeah, and he had a new toy car to take his mind off things which one of the group gifted to him.
Another family, mother (32) and her 4 children who'd been surviving in a cellar in occupied Russian territory since March. Their father was taken by the Russians.
The vehicle which I intend to buy is a Toyota Land Cruiser, as it is famously good off-road, reliable and can transport 6 passengers.
If by some miracle we manage to reach the target, all further money will be used for off road/winter tyres, maintenance, fuel etc.
If anyone's interested, you can follow the evacuations on my instagram - @Christoburg.
