It was too late to head all the way back to the border so we stayed in Warsaw that night. Olek watched Poland win a World Cup qualifier. It seemed deserved after all the good deeds we had seen from Polish people over the last couple of days. At this point, in a different town unexpectedly and with one and a half days remaining before we had to head home, we were keen to make the most of the time remaining. There was a lot of messaging that evening, with contacts in Poland and back in the UK who might know someone who needed our help.

The safe place was created by a community group living in an apartment block, conversion of the gym and launderette space into a clean,3 comfortable living area. We were greeted by a female colleague of Łukasz, who assured us that the family would be safe and showed us round the facilities. It was hard to say goodbye but they didn’t seem to want any fuss. We felt unsettled by the change in plans, but for them, having to spend a night on a camp bed in an unfamiliar space was far less of an inconvenience than having to flee their country.

Not long into the journey, Lukasz phoned to say that he had checked the train times and we weren’t going to get to Warsaw in time for the last train to Berlin. He suggested we take the family to a safe place he knew they could stay that night and they could get a train first thing the next day. Concerned over the welfare of the family, we wanted to make sure the story stacked up and checked train times, location of safe place, distance from train station. Mum and child slept in the back seat oblivious to our worries.