TWO friends have driven more than 16 hours across Europe to bring much-needed supplies to the people of Ukraine.
Ray Allott and James Fulcher, from North Yorkshire, drove a 36 seater minibus loaded with equipment including radios and generators.
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The pair also donated the minibus they travelled in when they arrived there so it could be used to bring people trying to flee the country to safety.
Mr Allott said the JustGiving page successfully raised £6,000, and “local people have been donating as well.”
He added: “One building company donated a generator and another company checked the bus all over before went over there to check it was safe.
“We got off the ferry at about 9 o’clock in the morning and arrived where we wanted to be in Poland at about midnight on Sunday. So it was about 14 to 16 hours drive."
The pair explained that many of the Ukrainians they encountered were looking to settle somewhere in continental Europe.
Mr Allott said: “So some people want to go to Sweden, some want to go to the other side of Poland, some want to go to Germany, it’s anywhere really where they have some sort of contact or just know someone really.
“The ones that come to England probably don’t know anyone and also can’t speak the language either.
“They’re a long way from home as well, and most people are expecting to go back home, when the war has ended.”
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Mr Allott also said the pair might be returning to provide medical help through a “mobile hospital.”
“There’s a possibility that we are going to do another bus that could be converted into a mobile hospital.
“Obviously there are injured people who want to come out there and sending one ambulance down with one person at a time, put a few beds on a bus to keep people comfortable.
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“We’re looking at possibly doing that in the near future, but it’s adjusting what’s happening over there to what we do over here, things can change overnight.
“They might want to go back to their own country in another six weeks you just don’t know do you.”
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