May 7 2024

A long day with plenty of help packing boxes for the next trip. I reckon we are about 75% of the way there and we have 132 boxes so far. Rick and Janet Dallimore, our heroes from Knutsford Rotary, brought four, yes, four Volvo estates full of aid today!!!

News on the ambulances is so so. I am going down to Brightwells in Hereford on Friday to collect our latest purchase - another Mercedes ambulance, but this time a manual gearbox. The bad news is that it comes without a V5 and according to Brightwells, we won't be able to export it until we have one. So potentially yet more delay.

The good news is that the last ambulance is now just about ready to collect with a review of the rear brakes and a new front tyre being all that is needed.

Thank you Diane for your kind donation. It's amazing what nice people you meet at your chiropractor!!

May 2 2024

It's been a long, hard two months but we are at last making progress and moving inexorably towards the next trip to Ukraine.

I'll post a fuller version shortly but suffice it to say that our second ambulance has now been repaired and we hope to take re-possession of it next week. On top of that we have just yesterday purchased another ambulance and I shall be going down to Brightwells in Hereford to collect it next week.

On the fundraising side, things have been mad and we are rapidly approaching a total of £41,000 raised since we started. Aid continues to pour in and I have four packed Volvo estates arriving next Tuesday. On top of that I have a hall full of boxes, bags, crutches and zimmer frames.

The plan is to go again before the end of May, but more of that later.

Feb 29 2024

Unfortunately, it's not all gone to plan this month. The first of the two ambulances did get repaired and was handed over to us on Tuesday 13 Feb, A team organised by Andy Thomson came down and helped to get it loaded on the following day so that it was effectively ready for departure on Saturday 17th.

The second ambulance was an altogether different matter. M53 Ford very kindly did all the diagnostics and ordered the parts from Mercedes Warrington. All a bit of a cliff hanger as the parts were not due to arrive until Friday 16th. However, we were lucky to the extent that they actually arrived a day early, so I went and collected them and delivered them to M53. Sadly I received a phone call from them on Friday to inform me that the problem had not been cured and that fumes were still coming out from the bottom of the engine.

This all meant that we had to let David and Bruce leave on their own on the Saturday morning; not ideal by a long way but since they both had business commitments, it was going to be very difficult to find a suitable alternative date for them. To say that their journey was eventful was an understatement!.

' Dashboard like a Christmas tree' was one of their comments over the phone, as one warning light after another lit up. They eventually made it after three long and very tough days, the last hundred miles to their destination on Tuesday morning being undertaken in limp mode with only one gear.

That vehicle has crossed the border into Ukraine but is currently non-operational. We are trying to find out where it is and what has happened to it - it would appear to be an electronics issue rather than mechanical - but we need to ensure that the vehicle is operational the problems have been resolved.

Bruce had an interesting experience at Rzeszow airport with Polish staff who accused him at check-in of being a soldier and carted him off for an interrogation. He protested his innocence and was eventually allowed to board but this was a wholly undesirable and unwarranted experience.

The second ambulance was transferred by M53 up to eStar Truck and Vans, a Mercedes Commercial garage, on Monday 19th. We have now had a full diagnosis of the issue which appears to be a blown turbo. Their estimate for repairs, using genuine Merc parts- is a little short of £4,000.

However, we have now received a second estimate from an alternative garage for just over £1,100 - a massive difference and I suspect using a non-standard turbo. That should be perfectly good enough for us and somehow we will find the money to get it sorted.

All sorts of aid continues to roll in and we certainly have enough to fill one more vehicle already. However, we are on the lookout for a second vehicle so that we can convoy the two together when the dust settles and repairs have been effected.

Following an evening speaking engagement I was asked to do, I must express my real gratitude to Northwich Rotary who kindly reimbursed me for the cost of two defibrillator batteries and pads. That was nearly £500 of additional 'off balance sheet' support.

I am due to give a talk to a local 41 Club on March 6. Tania, Paula and I are then scheduled to give a talk to Knutsford Rotary on March 12. Finally, the Mitchell Group, in Ellesmere Port ( Lexus, Mazda and Skoda agencies) have asked me over on March 22 to give a talk to their staff - up to 100 in number. They have earmarked this as a 'donation day', which will be great fun.

I'll do my best to update this as often as circumstances change.

Feb 12 2024

Well we've got them!

Grant, Bruce and I headed for Pioneer Alliance (PA) down in Plymouth on Thursday last to collect the two Mercedes Sprinter ambulances we have bought. It was a day of mixed emotions - and events!!

The weather was absolutely atrocious from the moment we were kindly collected from the station, until we eventually got home.

PA have been incredibly generous, collecting clothes, donating all their remaining Mercedes spares, raiding their stores for medical supplies and also giving us loads of walking frames, walking sticks and crutches, all of which will come in really handy for the vast array of amputees who have fallen foul of indiscriminately laid anti-personnel mines. It beggars belief in this day and age.

20 miles down line, we had mechanical issues which necessitated calling out PA's chief engineer. Unfortunately that delayed us for a further hour and a half. The weather just would not let up and we eventually parked up at Grant's shortly after midnight - and guess what? It was still raining.

Both vehicles are now in the tender mercy of M53 Ford and we hope they will be fault free by Wednesday when they are due to be loaded.

Scheduled departure is half seven on Saturday morning, Feb 17 with return all being well on the evening of Tuesday Feb 20.

We are trying now to get a team together to load the ambulances on Wednesday - Valentines Day!! How romantic!

More later!!

Feb 6, 2024

I have just picked myself up off the floor having seen the latest donation. Alan and Wendy, that is monumental generosity and I am so grateful to you. That in essence means that we shall not have to apply to British Ukrainian Aid for any financial assistance and that we will be able to cover all the costs of the next trip.

I really would like to meet up with you to say a personal thank you once we get back. Can we arrange to meet in Booths again on a Saturday morning and have a coffee together? You could always get hold of me, I guess, via British Ukrainian Aid, particularly if you speak to Bohdan, our liaison there. I can't really leave any personal contact details here unfortunately. Alternately, leave your contact number with the manager at Booths and if you ask him, I am sure he can pass it on to my Ukrainian friend, Tania, who was with me.

Our schedule is now confirmed - 7am departure on Saturday 17th Feb, flying back, all being well on the evening of 20th! Last time I looked, it was about -25C in Kiev so I guess southern Poland isn't going to be a whole lot warmer!!

Best wishes, and my sincere thanks to you both.

Paul

January 30, 2024

7.45 pm Thank you Little Bro!! I'm sorry you are not coming with us!!

10.am I am absolutely astounded at the generosity shown by everyone that Tania and I met in Booths on Saturday morning. Thank you all so much!!

Please stay in touch with this page and we will keep you up to date with progress.

Off now to pack clothes into labelled boxes to ensure we don't have the same problem with French customs as we had last time!!

Very many thanks once again!!

Paul

January 27, 2024

A brief report!! We are going back, all being well departing Saturday 17th Feb with two more vehicles, which we have acquired this week.

We just need to raise about £2,000 more to ensure we cover all the costs of the next trip, bearing in mind that the ambulances do about 21mpg!!

Tania and I have been fundraising in Booths supermarket in Knutsford this morning and by the time I got home, there were already six new donations. Thank you so much to the lovely people we met today!! ( It's now seven donations!!!). The total raised to date - with Gift Aid and donations which have gone direct to British Ukrainian Aid - amounts to £34,958. Astounding !!

I guess there will be one more report before we leave, and a further one when we get back. Bye for now!!

December 20 and 21, 2023

Apologies to everyone, but it's been a busy autumn/start to winter and I had quite overlooked the promised update. Here goes - the full story is going to be a long one!

As most of you will be aware, we had a highly successful trip back in October and we are planning to repeat the venture with two more ambulances some time in February/March 2024.

We had so many donations in kind - at the last count over 160 bags of clothing, childrens' toys and books, boxes of wound dressings, suture kits, walking aids, a generator, veterinary equipment ...............the list is endless.

Saturday September 30 saw us gathered at 11am with five of the six crew ( two to a vehicle) outside St Mary's church in Weaverham, for a short service of blessing prior to our departure. There were over fifty people in attendance, including some Ukrainian refugees and it was a poignant time for us all. Many of those who came had more bags of clothing and other items which were chucked on top inside the already full vehicles.

The weather was pretty kind to us for the half hour that mattered and tea and biscuits followed in the church before we set off back to Kelsall where Grant (captain of No 2 ambulance!) had allowed us to park all the vehicles.

7am Sunday we all assembled at Kelsall for bacon rolls and coffee - thanks to Grant's wife, Julia - and set off at 7.45 in dreary damp weather. Destination Channel Tunnel!! Absolutely no issues until we got to Folkestone, a few miles short of the Chunnel, when I received a phone call telling me that I would be met by the British Ukrainian Aid agent who would give me " Form T". Enquiries revealed that this was intended to be a copy of our manifest but since I hadn't got a clue what was on the three vehicles except in the broadest terms ( because of the somewhat haphazard and last minute addition of dozens of bags of what I guessed was clothing), it didn't seem to me that anyone else would have the faintest idea either, and particularly someone who hadn't even seen either the vehicles or the contents!! Neither agent nor Form T arrived , but it was Sunday afternoon after all!

I should add that the weather had steadily improved as we drove south and by the time we reached Folkestone at about noon, the sun was shining and there were very few clouds around. This was to last for the whole trip and the three days spent on the continent were warm ,cloudless and very pleasant. Just a shame we were cooped up in vehicles but it certainly made driving easier.

We pulled up just short of UK Customs and were instructed to move some cones out of the way and park closer to the office building - NOT a good idea!! A police BMW came screaming down the road and pulled to a stop just short of us. An extremely irate female police officer demanded to know what on earth we were doing moving cones, but she was mollified when we explained we had been instructed to do so by UK Customs.

Two of the three vehicles were then X-rayed by HMRC before we boarded the freight train, sandwiched in between huge articulated lorries. Collected by mini-bus, we spent the half hour crossing in a passenger coach, disembarking in Calais and heading, as instructed, for French customs.

Once parked up, we three drivers headed for the office, and went to the counter, which coincidentally had three openings in the perspex screen - me in the centre as a French speaker, Grant on my right and David ( captain of Ambulance No 3!) on my left. Enter one young French Customs Officer ('FCO') stage right. The conversation (in French) went as follows:

FCO: May I have your formule ( French for a form) T please, monsieur?

Me: I haven't got one.

FCO: Pourquoi pas? (Why not?)

Me: Because I wasn't given one or asked to bring one.

[FCO goes and gets a sheet of A4 paper and a pen and slides it through to me.]

FCO: Please write down your estimate of the nature and value of the contents of your ambulance.

[ I give it my best guess and complete the form as requested]

FCO : Now get your friends to copy it please.

Which they did. He then collected all three identical forms and disappeared, returning five minutes later.

FCO: All right monsieur, my boss is waiting for you. Please drive round to the back of this building.

We do so and are met by Monsieur Important ['MI']. Plenty of scrambled egg on his epaulettes, thumbs in waistcoat pockets and with two minions on each side of him.

MI: Please reverse all your vehicles up to the loading bays.

We do so. I am fervently praying there is a god, not because we are smuggling anything but because the thought of unloading, unpacking and reloading the vehicle (or worst case all three ambulances) is giving me palpitations.

MI to me: I am minded to get you to unload your vehicle. Please open the rear door.

I do as commanded - fortunately nothing falls out but the view is of black plastic bags from floor to ceiling.

MI: Oh merde ( translates loosely as 'oh dear'), fermez la porte monsieur. ( translates as 'I have seen enough and don't want to spend all afternoon opening hundreds of bags and potentially causing a diplomatic incident'). Allez. (Bu**er off).

I then make a big mistake. I have brought with me in my ambulance a box of flapjack purchased from our local farm shop to be nibbled en route over three days. Wishing to express my gratitude to MI and his colleagues for their kindness, I approach them and offer them a piece.

MI ( with twinkle in eye) : Monsieur, your offer is appreciated but I do not wish to complicate matters with a charge of attempted bribery.

We mount up and depart. Voila!!

We made it round Brussels by mid to late afternoon - just - no one had told us it's the day of the Brussels marathon or that the traffic was going to be absolutely manic. We've already been badly held up by roadworks and lengthy jams, but it's amazing how courteous other drivers are towards us, seemingly guessing where we are headed. We also by some miracle manage to preserve our three vehicle convoy. We arrive at our first stop at Heverlee in Belgium at about 9.30 on Sunday night, thoroughly exhausted but nevertheless buoyed by the fact that nothing untoward has happened. Catering takes the form of a ghastly burger, but there is no choice.

Monday morning we set off bright and early, destination Gera in Germany, a further 480 miles away, a slightly shorter journey than yesterday. It is a day without incident apart from one of us running on diesel fumes until we can find a fuel stop - just in time. We pull in to our hotel at about 6.30pm and are immediately somewhat alarmed to find the front drive of our hotel filled with police vans disgorging fit young swat teams armed with Glock automatics and H & K MP3 sub machine guns. In my limited German I say to one of them that this all looks a bit threatening, but their presence hasn't been caused by us but by the threat of violence from a far right political demonstration scheduled for the following day from the AFD. We have a good meal outdoors at a restaurant about 200 yards from our hotel and retire early, with a prompt departure scheduled before politics intervene!!

On the road by about 8am, we clear Gera on another bright and sunny day. Soon we are on a two lane autobahn; we have adopted our 'convoy protocol' - the road is pretty busy with lorries - which involves the rear gunner ( last ambulance in the convoy) looking for a gap to pull out. He then flashes his headlights to No 2 ambulance who also pulls out again flashing his lights at the leader. Responsibility is now transferred to No 1 ambulance to find a gap long enough for us all to pull in. It works incredibly well and we make excellent progress, unlike the other side of the two lane autobahn.

At about 9.30 in the morning, there's a lorry on the opposite side of the autobahn having a left front wheel change. That's sticking out into the adjacent lane if you think about it, so very sensibly, the tyre mechanic has blocked off the fast lane with his van while he changes the wheel, to avoid getting run over. Which means that no-one can get past him and the whole autobahn has come to a standstill. It looks like quite a lengthy queue is forming. At about 10.30 we stop for coffee and at about 11, we resume our journey. The traffic jam is still there and it goes to the horizon. At 1pm we stop for lunch, scrambling back into the ambulances at 2pm. Somewhere around 3pm we clear the back of the traffic jam on the other side of the road, a jam which we reckon was well over 100 miles long. I now have huge sympathy with Polish lorry drivers heading over to the UK!!

At about 6pm, we eventually find our hotel in southern Poland having meandered aimlessly round a residential estate for about half an hour as our satnavs had thrown a wobble.

I get a phone call late that night from our Ukrainian volunteer friends asking if we can add a further 150 miles to our journey, and rather than hand over the ambulances at Rzeszow airport ( from where we are scheduled to fly back to Manchester with Mr Ryanair), could we proceed to Przemsyl only eight miles from the Ukrainian border and meet them there at 9am!

Up early again and a faultless drive all the way on good roads, arriving only 15 minutes late at the Przemsyl Glowny railway station, where we have an extremely emotional handover to our new Ukrainian friends.

My wife and I had taken three bottles of our our own apple juice with us for consumption en route, but until the last morning, we had forgotten all about them. So, we consume one and hand over the other two with the request that they are passed to the soldiers who get our ambulance. Imagine our great delight when later that day we receive a photo from the 417 Volunteer Battalion, of two soldiers holding battalion banner between them, each with a bottle of our apple juice aloft in their other hand!!

Reluctantly we bid adieu to our new friends and take the train from the adjacent station back to Rzeszow, where we hail taxis and head for the airport.

What gives us a serious reality check is to find, whilst we are sitting in the airport lounge, waiting to board, an array of Patriot surface to air missiles all round the airfield. Apparently we are a prime target for Putin if all hell breaks loose, as the airfield is also used by Nato.

Met at Manchester Airport by Reem Executive in one of their people carriers - generosity extends to the fact that they refused to charge us anything for the journey back home.

Collected our two labradors the following morning from Sue Williamson at Ridge Hill Kennels and yet again was met with no bill.

Thank you both of you for your generosity! Appreciated hugely by us all!!

Having said that, we were glad to get home that evening and it was only the following morning that we all realised we had been running on adrenaline and caffeine for the previous four days. We have received, and continue to receive, a huge number of photos and videos from Ukraine, from those who benefitted from the three tons of humanitarian aid we took with us - from schools, individual families, convalescent and old peoples homes, rehabilitation centres and hospitals.

What an adventure, but how dreadfully sad in this day and age that it was necessary.

October 6

Well, we've done it!! I'll write a full report in the next few days. It was a brilliant trip, not marred by any accidents, full of interest, and at the end, very emotional.

Full report and photos to follow, but in the meantime, thank you all for your incredible support. The money is still rolling in, and as I write we are just £50 short of £34,000. Fantastic! We've actually got enough to buy another two ambulances and do the whole thing again.....................when we have caught up on sleep!!

September 28

The fantastic news tonight is that we have hit £33,000!!!

Back to reality! Whew, it's all systems go!! One of the ambulances showed an engine warning light yesterday so it has had to go back to the garage, who in turn have had to call in a favour from Mercedes. Happily all is OK and I gather the software has been reprogrammed. Collection tomorrow morning all being well. Then it's..............

.........over to Winsford to Advanced Medical Solutions to collect what seems like a vehicle load of wound dressings, which they are donating to us. Fabulous news and what a way to end the week.

Anybody and everybody welcome on Saturday morning at 10.45 at St Mary's Church in Weaverham. All three vehicles will be there, plus five of the six drivers. There will be a short service of prayer and a blessing plus a chance to talk to us. Some of the local Ukrainian community will be there too and I know there are more bags of clothing arriving!!

We are going to do a blog of the trip and will try and put it up on YouTube so everyone involved can access it afterwards. We have been asked to drive another 50 or so miles closer to the Ukrainian border to Przemysl to handover the ambulances to Ukrainian volunteers and from where we will get the train back to Rzeszow late Wednesday morning.

That's today's update! Probably more tomorrow!!

September 22

Where to start....................??!!

Monday 12 September David and I took the train to Brightwell's in Hereford to collect two of the vehicles purchased for us by Bohdan. Grant collected the third ambulance the following day. So now we have three ambulances up here in Cheshire.

All the vehicles have now been serviced and MOTd by M53 Ford in Ellesmere Port. They were photographed all together at the garage this week together with some of M53 staff and my two black labradors, who enjoyed posing for the moment!! They have also been insured courtesy of Equity Red Star for a very nominal cost. Many, many thanks to both parties for their generosity.

I went over on Thursday this week to Knutsford to see Tatiana Petrenko, my Ukrainian GP colleague and friend and to load the Peugeot ambulance with about 50 boxes of clothes, books, soft toys and medical gear. Grant and I will be taking one of the vehicles down to BUA's warehouse in Slough some time next week to load up but we have managed to fill the other two vehicles with items that have been donated directly to us.

On Saturday September 30, we will be lining up the ambulances outside St Mary's church in Weaverham for a prayer and blessing from our vicar, Paul Withington. I hope that as many people as possible will come and join in the brief ceremony. I'm also hoping that Paul can arrange some reasonable weather for us!!

So, countdown has started and the vehicles are currently being loaded. We have a long, long drive on the Sunday, leaving Weaverham at 7.30am and heading straight for the Channel Tunnel, where we get a free pass through to Calais. Then we have a further 200+ miles to drive the same day, before we stop for the night at Heverlee in Belgium. That's probably the most gruelling day.

Day 2 sees us drive from Heverlee to Gera in Germany and then on Tuesday., on to Bochnia in Poland for our last night's stop. A pretty short drive to Rzeszow Jasionka airport for handover. We fly back from there direct to Manchester at 4pm on Wednesday 4th - well at least that's the plan!!!

Funds are continuing to roll in and we are within touching distance of £33,000 in total, with more expected. If we get a successful trip under our belt, we might even think about a repeat journey, depending on how much money is left over. More news later this week I suspect!!

September 7

I have the best news of all - Bohdan has managed to purchase three ambulances for us; two of us are heading down to Hereford on Monday September 11 to collect them. As a result, our scheduled departure on Oct 1 stands firm - providing we can get the flights booked soon. More later.............................!!

August 28

A big thanks must go to my Ukrainian friend Tatiana Petrenko for giving up her weekend and manning a table in Booths, Knutsford. I joined her on Saturday morning and the friendliness and generosity of the people we met speaks for itself. Over the two days, a further £500 has been raised by way of on-line donations, taking us to a total of over £31,500.

August 26

I've just renewed the JG page so that we can keep going. Since I last edited this page, the response has been absolutely overwhelming.

We hit our target of £30k a week or so ago, but I have reset the target to enable us possibly to acquire another ambulance. Aside from the cash shown on the Just Giving page, a further £5,500 has been donated on our behalf direct to British Ukrainian Aid.

Subject to our friend Bohdan being able to purchase the vehicles, we are aiming to depart on the morning of Sunday October 1, driving south that day and crossing via the Channel Tunnel. Hopefully we can cover a couple of hundred miles in the afternoon/evening before rest beckons. Then onwards through Monday and Tuesday, with the intention of handing everything over at or near to Rzeszow airport in southern Poland on Wednesday October 4, before we fly back to Manchester that afternoon.

Apart from financial donations, we have been given an enormous amount of clothing and equipment so I am confident we won't be going empty. We still need men's clothing ( clean please!!) - T shirts, fleeces,coats, trousers and socks in particular. Hand them in please at Radio Northwich ( mark them for the attention of Mike Cooksley)

I've just done a couple of hours in Booths, Knutsford with my good friend and Ukrainian GP, Tatiana Petrenkov. It was lovely to get such a friendly reception from members of the public and donations on line have started already.

I can't write this update without mentioning the unbelievable efforts of County Insurance and their staff. As I mentioned much earlier in the year, they made this venture their 'Charity of the Year' and have so far raised over £11,500 plus an unknown amount of Gift Aid. I know there is more to come with, amongst other things, a football match between County and Kindertons, their accident management company at Willaston Football Ground, Tricketts Lane, Willaston, Nantwich at 6pm on September 1. Do come along if you have the chance!!

Since the departure date draws ever closer, I will try and update this page more frequently!

Thank you again everyone for your sterling efforts!! Keep going!!

June 9

The fundraising is still going strong and with all promises taken into account, I think we are just over the £25,000 mark as at June 9. Massive thanks to all who have contributed so far. and please keep the momentum up!

The news from Ukraine is pretty desperate in one particular area. Firstly the blowing of the dam on the Dnipro river has led to towns and villages downstream being totally flooded and as a result a huge number of people being made homeless. With winter only four or five months away, we have been asked to collect clothes - particularly warm fleeces. We also need dark coloured T shirts, socks and underwear.

May 6:

We've just done a bucket collection on Lakehouse Field in Weaverham during the coronation festivities - nearly £90 collected and of course under the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme, we can claim Gift Aid on it. Thank you so much to all who contributed , especially the large number of children.

May 2:

Our latest news is that the St James's Place Foundation has paid our £3,000 award direct to British-Ukrainian Aid, so it won't appear on our Just Giving page.

27 April:

We have had two major highlights over the last ten days. The Burnley office of the County Insurance Group organised a quiz night at the Accrington Stanley football club. Attended by some 93 people, the night raised an incredible amount of money. The total raised is still to be finalised but is certainly well over £3,000 and enough to trigger the company promise to match employee fundraising up to £2,500.

County Insurance, by the way, have made this their charity of the year and I know that many of their offices have got fundraising events underway already. Watch this space!!

To see the consolidated total raised by all the teams, you need to scroll down this page and click on the 'A4UKWE' letters to the right of the photo of people holding a Union Jack.

By the way, £30,000 is the overall target, not just mine personally!!

We've made the decision to help because we, Paula ( my wife) and I, have had past association with Ukraine, which has been recently strengthened by virtue of the fact that our new GP is Ukrainian.

Let me reassure everyone that this is all being undertaken through a registered UK charity - British Ukrainian Aid.

So, what are we doing? Well, we are going to try and raise sufficient money to fund the purchase of two second hand ambulances, and personally drive them over to Ukraine. To do this, we will be unashamedly appealing to all our friends, colleagues and business associates.

The medical infrastructure in Ukraine has suffered badly over the last year, with numerous ambulances being destroyed, hospitals bombed, and thousands, both military and civilian killed and injured.

Unfortunately, the press clearly are bored with the story, which in most national papers has been relegated to relatively small coverage deep inside the paper.

We are desperately keen to do what we can to support the doctors, paramedics and all those who are seeking to bring relief to the numerous casualties as well as those who have been made homeless.

It may seem like a massive target, but let me reassure everyone that every single £1 helps. Our smallest donation is from a 10yr old girl who has generously given £2!

On top of the purchase price - probably around £10k per vehicle - there are numerous additional costs - fuel, insurance, servicing, MOTs, accommodation, meals, ferry tickets and of course our fares back from Poland.

We have had generous offers of help in kind - one local garage is going to service and MOT the vehicles for free, a well known insurance company has offered insurance cover for the journey and a medical company I think are going to donate some of their products to put on the ambulances. One resident of Weaverham has found an unused petrol generator in his garden shed and it is currently being refurbished and will be taken out with us.

We will take advice from British Ukrainian Aid as to what we can load onto the two vehicles which will be of greatest use to both military casualties and civilians.

Thank you all for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.