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.

Gary's story:

Having been made more aware of the situation in The Ukraine by John Sweeney's film on the war crimes in Eastern Ukraine (link on my blog page) I wanted to do more to help the brave Ukrainians defending themselves against Putin's “Special Military Operation”, which has killed and wounded so many thousands of innocent civilians. Not only has this war devastated their country, but Ukrainians are fighting to safeguard the very same values which we share, and our relatives fought so hard for in the past.

I joined a convoy in February with the fantastic charity P4P (Pickups for Peace), run by volunteers from the UK farming community. They've already sent over 300 pickups filled with aid to Lviv in Ukraine, so this is an established path, by partnering with them, they will ensure the vehicle and supplies end up in the right hands.

When in Lviv I saw the shocking sight of the Field of Mars, a new cemetery, filled with the graves of over 700 soldiers - just from Lviv city. Over 31,000 soldiers and 10,000 civilians have died since the invasion in February 2022. After visiting Lviv and seeing the situation for myself I pledged to do more to help.

With your donations, we will be purchasing a used 4x4 pick-up truck and van and driving them to Kharkiv, in Eastern Ukraine where they will be handed over to a small NGO called SOS Ukraine, staffed by local residents of Kharkiv.

I met them on my second trip in May, and was shown some of the excellent work they do, from distributing aid and medical supplies to evacuating people from front line areas. They also do the small and important jobs supporting evacuees, such as distributing donated Android tablets and powerbanks to evacuated schoolchildren so they can carry on with online education.

Pickups for Peace have provided us with a shopping list of aid items that are needed. Our budget includes a vehicle to be purchased for £2.5-3k, with the balance being used for the ferry fare and purchasing of supplies such as tourniquets powerbanks and other medical supplies. Please contact us directly if you can provide any of the equipment on the list below, or a working 4x4 vehicle.

We will be self-funding travel and accommodation costs so your generous donations will reach Ukraine with no deductions. The journey takes three days and covers around 1300 miles. We will send all supporters a report when I return.

We hope that with your generosity we can help the Ukrainians in their time of need, just when Western nations are losing interest and reducing military and financial assistance.

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 my 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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