In May, Nick Milne and I drove a 2016 Mercedes Sprinter freezer van to Ukraine. The freezer van was donated by Bidfood and, whilst a slightly ‘end of life van,' it got us there. Given its size, we were able to fill the back of the van with a mountain of medical and rehabilitation equipment; surgical coveralls; crutches; wheelchairs; mattresses; and dog food for the pets kept by soldiers on the front line for morale and companionship. The contents of the van were given to the Mercy & Health Foundation in Kyiv who support up to 35 civilian and military hospitals and the van itself was donated to the Border Brigade in Chernihiv. It's a bit grim but the van will be primarily used to transport the deceased (hence the need for it to be a freezer van), but will also be used as a utility cargo vehicle. Ukraine is a vast country and the van is expected to travel 2000 km each week. The Mercy & Health Foundation, run by Dr Olexsandr Yatsyna (pictured below evacuating children from the recently bombed Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv), are urgently requesting another vehicle - ideally a more modern one that will be reliable and freeze well.

To that end, I have found several Mercedes Sprinter and Iveco freezer vans, all manufactured around 2020 with about 100,000 miles on the clock. James Gaslee and I are looking to buy one to deliver in late summer/Autumn. On the journey out to Ukraine the back of the van will once again be filled with rehabilitation and medical equipment. Therefore, we're looking to raise £12,000 and would be most grateful for any donations. I appreciate that some of you kindly sponsored me back in January and all I would say is that Ukraine is still in urgent need of help. With an average of 300 people dying or being wounded each day, it's a desperate situation.