Links for reference...
- Donate now to the fundraising page (please!)
- View our complete accounting record of donations and expenses.
Late last week Daria (Dr Mattingly!) and her husband Paul arrived back home after a 2 day journey into Ukraine. Thanks to YOUR generosity we delivered...
- One 4x4 vehicle with underbody protection. A properly useful boost to the capability and safety of the unit who will be using it, among whom is Anton, Daria's best friend, father of two girls and only 10 weeks a soldier defending his home.
- 2 sets of military grade body armour sized exactly to those in the unit that lacked it.
- 1 ballistic helmet, again ordered for an individual who lacked one.
- Along the way Daria and Paul also filled the truck with as much Polish dark beer and crisps as they could fit in for the chaps of the unit, this was at their own expense.
In terms of humanitarian supplies these went in the end to the town of Mykolaiv, just along the coast from Mariupol and Kherson in the south of Ukraine. We delivered...
- 40kg of infant milk formula
- 1500 nappies
- 5000 wet wipes
The pair left home at 5am and, via Eurostar, drove to Hamburg for the night. The next evening found them in Warsaw where they met an old friend of Daria who is now coordinating refugee help.
Leaving Warsaw early morning meant arriving at the Ukraine border around noon. I'll let Daria pick up the story here...
"At the border at 12 pm Polish time which is 1 pm Ukrainian time. Went through Polish border, Ukrainian border and Ukrainian customs smoothly - 1 hour. We also filled the car with beer and crisps for Anton and his men, but customs officers didn’t care as soon as they heard the car is for the armed forces.
Drove out and stopped at the petrol station where a man from the unit who will be using the truck has already been waiting for us for half an hour. We talked, took photos and explained which boxes are for refugees and which for military.
He drove off to Kyiv and promised to stop off in Rivne to drop off the humanitarian supplies which now will go to Mykolaiv, not Dnipro. And he did 3 hours later!!! This is the photo."
What's next?
This Thursday we'll be sending another vehicle, a Mitsubishi Shogun this time, full of humanitarian supplies specifically requested by the shelter in Mykolaiv. This vehicle will be driven by a Ukrainian volunteer named Rory and Shane, a former UK serviceman.
The items requested are adult sanitary pads for the wounded and palliative patients, medical gauze and wet wipes. We need your help to buy as many of these as possible.
We've raised just over £22,000 and have £1384.24 left in the kitty. It costs just over £1000 to do the delivery so we could use a few more donations if you can spare it! Thank you!
