An Eden fundraising team, which drives emergency vehicles and humanitarian supplies to Ukraine has been helped by another connection from the district on their latest trip.
Paul Thomas and team recently visited the war-torn country as part of their eighth ambulance appeal, delivering a four-wheel drive Nissan ambulance and an ex-NHS Peugeot ambulance to help support those affected by the conflict.
However, on this occasion as well as meeting their usual contacts from the Lviv ambulance services, Paul also met up and collaborated with Steve Hodgson from Kirkby Stephen, who is now based in Ukraine.
Paul explained the Peugeot ambulance was donated to the charity Vezha, which Steve is involved with. The pair, who previously met at Plumpton’s Pot Place garden centre, which is owned by Paul, also had time to meet with other aid workers and volunteers to discuss future collaborations.
Paul said: “It will be used by doctors in the Odessa area as a mobile medical centre. In previous times we have more or less taken the ambulances and other vehicles and we have left them with the guys at the ambulance service.
“This time when I got the ambulance, I rang him up and said: ‘Do you know anyone in the area who would benefit from using it?’ He works for a charity called Vezha, which is involved in humanitarian work around Odessa. They have a doctors’ initiative, where doctors from Odessa hospital volunteer their time to go into the local community and take a medical practice to the community.
“We actually met him in Lviv with one of the other volunteers from the same charity and she drove it back to Odessa the next day. That was really nice, as we know where it is going to go, and we might even hear of it again in the future.”
The campaign has now delivered nine ambulances and 15 vehicles in total to help Ukranians in need.
The off-road Nissan ambulance was transferred to the charity Angels of Life who evacuate wounded people from the frontline.
Also taken was a Skoda vehicle, donated by local vet Felicity Kerr of Craig Robinson Vets, which was offered for use by frontline medics.
Paul said bad weather was encountered en route, including a severe thunderstorm for about three or four hours on the autobahn in Germany, followed by a hailstorm, but apart from that “all went smoothly.”
Paul also had time to meet Ukrainian friend Kateryna Karabadzhak, who previously worked at the Pot Place, when she was temporarily relocated to Cumbria.
“She got the overnight train from the far eastern side of Ukraine where she comes from. She was there when we arrived on Monday, so we could all meet on the Monday night. Then we had the following day together.
“Again, you say your goodbyes on the platform, and we head off one way and she heads off the other. At least for that day and a bit we can be with her. We can talk to her and keep her going. That’s all you can do. Her husband is now back on the frontline, close to Kharkiv.”
Sadly, Paul says the conflict is taking its toll in Ukraine as it has escalated in recent months. “There seems no respite for them really,” he said.
As well as ambulances, the next fundraising efforts for the team will focus on winter supplies and generators, to help ease the suffering in the coming months.
