At 5am on Sunday, the 24th April, Suzy the Isuzu truck will be leaving for Ukraine!
CPS Garage in Bradford-on-Avon gave her a service and a thorough check up and also fitted thick steel panels underneath to protect the engine and drivetrain from road debris and enthusiastic off roading! For this they made no charge and we are very grateful for that. We opted in the end not to fit a higher canopy to the load bed. Leaving it with its simple cover means the truck can carry bigger, higher loads in the future - whatever they may be!
Our fabrication department have manufactured a bracket so we can fit the spare wheel under the rear of the vehicle out of the way and WK Valeting have given the car a clean inside and out!
Dr Mattingly and her husband Paul will be driving the truck to the Polish border with Ukraine at a town called Dorohusk. They'll be travelling via Dover with a stopover in Hanover and a refugee centre in Warsaw. Here they will leave as many nappies, wipes and tins of baby formula as we can fit in!
Once the truck has been delivered safely into the hands of Darias friend at Dorohusk they will get the train to Warsaw and fly back from there. We've been able to supply two sets of full body armour and a ballistic helmet too for the unit we are supporting in the sizes they need. The truck will also be carrying extra fuel and camouflage netting.
We've spent just over £12,000 of roughly £19,000 raised between Just Giving and Blake & Bulls contribution. We've already secured another vehicle so hope to make a second run to Ukraine in a few weeks with another stop off at the refugee centre. You can see our complete record of our spending and fund raising here. It's updated daily.
I'd be so grateful if you could extend your support to this second effort and donate again via Just Giving!
