Gary Essex and Kevin Simpson are fundraising for Pickups for Peace

Thank you for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page dedicated to helping Ukraine.

Why I’m supporting Pickups for Peace.

It would be easy to think that the war in Ukraine is now old news and of little relevance to life in Western Europe. However this could not be further from the truth.

Ukraine is the nearest, and currently most violent part of a much bigger problem.

Ukraine is a modern European nation striving for connection and inclusion with the rest of the continent, however the Russian Federation is not of the same outlook. The attack on

Ukraine is totally unprovoked, there is no reason for them to be attempting to destabilise and invade Ukraine.

This actually started in 2014 at the point where Ukraine decided their future was with the European community, and Russia's recent history has seen similar provocative behaviour in provoking destabilisation and conflict in Georgia, and Moldova.

I've been paying attention to the news and social media reports for some time and have seen the accounts of the brutality of Putin's troops and agents against Ukrainian soldiers and civilians. It is important that Ukraine wins this war for many reasons. However it is possibly more important that Russia loses this war, which would most probably prevent it behaving in a similar manner with other sovereign states.

I've known Gary for many years and when he told me about his previous trip and the work Pickups for Peace were doing, I felt that I needed to be involved, so I can help the Ukraine to overcome the tyranny inflicted on them.

All donations make a difference, no matter how small:

£5 buys two wound dressings

£30 pays for a Tourniquet kit

£75 pays for a medics trauma bag

£180 pays for a channel crossing for a pickup

£300 buys a set of new off road tyres for a pickup

You can read Gary's recent blog post about the trip here:

https://randomrailways.wordpress.com/2024/03/05/pickups-for-peace/

Many thanks for your support

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