Helping Our Ukrainian Friends volunteers from Helpston, Stamford and Peterborough complete biggest aid mission to Poland and Kyiv

An aid project to support Ukrainian troops and civilians under fire broke new ground as it completed its 12th – and biggest – mercy mission.

Helping Our Ukrainian Friends delivered seven-and-a-half tons of humanitarian aid for wartorn communities, including vital supplies of food, medicine, clothing as well as winter essentials such as camping stoves and generators.

The five-vehicle convoy completed the 1,000-plus-mile journey from Helpston to the Polish city of Gliwice, near the border with Ukraine.

“For those doing the trip for the first time it’s a very direct way of realising that what we are doing does make a difference and they were really bowled over by it,” said project founder member Richard Astle.

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They also put on a Christmas party for around 130 Ukrainian refugee children who are preparing for a second Christmas away from their homes.

Six of the 20 volunteers - including Helpston supporters Richard, Bob Bennett and Neil Hammond – then drove two donated ambulances on to Kyiv.

Their journey to the Ukrainian capital was smooth, aside from a five-and-a-half-hour delay as Polish customs queried their paperwork.

“Getting to Kyiv was very symbolic,” Richard said.

“To meet people we know in Kyiv, to see the city and what’s going on. It felt like a big moment for the project to have got that far.”

“He added: “It was very safe in Kyiv, but air raid alarms went off quite regularly.

“There is a sense that ordinary life goes on, people go to work every day, but actually it doesn’t. There is a war going on just a few hours down the road and the future is uncertain.”

There they met a familiar face from back home - Jack Bon Holly, the Stamford humanitarian aid worker who helped drive the ambulances east to the frontline.

It was also particularly poignant for Richard who was reunited with his old friend Igor – a heart surgeon – and his family who were the inspiration for the group.

“I think the mood has changed out there,” said Richard.

“It was my first time back in Kyiv since war broke out and you get a sense of real weariness and that perhaps things aren’t going their way, that the west is losing interest, that people are beginning to forget about it.

“The Middle East is taking over the news agenda and they are worried they’re not getting the military supplies they need.

“They could still lose this war. The Russians have got this attritional approach to everything. They don’t care how many people they lose.”

Among the team of drivers was Olena Popova, a Ukrainian mother who has spent the last 18 months in Ketton after losing her husband to the war.

Richard said: “It was great to have Olena as part of our team, but it is another very direct manifestation of the displacement of millions of Ukrainians. It was very poignant.”

He believes each appeal involving many schools, churches and businesses, not only provides physical relief, but also helps psychologically.

A meeting will be held in January to plan next year’s schedule, including a 13th trip before the end of March.

“As Jack told us, it’s not just people bringing supplies in vans, it’s the whole thing that so many people have donated and the message of support that sends out,” Richard said.

They also act as a reminder of what is being fought for.

“It reinforced how important it is to keep supporting Ukraine,” he added.

“We all need to realise it’s not just about humanitarian aid – this war is a direct threat to our security.

“It’s an attack on the western system of government and democracy. They say in Ukraine ‘if we stand aside, who’s next’.”