Peterborough aid group transports six tonnes of food, clothes and medicine to Ukraine in largest delivery

An aid team made up of ten volunteers from our region has made its largest delivery yet to Ukraine, just in time for Christmas.

A fleet of three vans left Helpston on 30 November, taking nearly six tonnes of food, clothes and medicine donated by Peterborough residents, schools and organisations.

Before reaching their destination two days later, the team stopped off in Poland to add 20 generators to its convoy of gifts and essential supplies.

Speaking by phone from Rivne – a city in the west of the beleaguered country – the volunteers’ spokesperson Richard Astle gave the Peterborough Telegraph an update:

“We took everything to Poland and now we’re delivering it into Ukraine,” he explained.

“We’re bringing it to Rivne where some of it will stay - for a school and a home for old people; while some of it will go across to Sumy, on to Odessa - lots of different places.”

The journey out to Poland via Germany was, Richard noted, “very straightforward”. “We didn't get stopped at customs,” he said.

Helpston-resident Richard attended an event on Saturday (December 3), which saw gifts and Christmas boxes given out to 120 Ukrainian refugee children.

All of the items had been donated by schools in and around the Peterborough area.

Richard described the event as “tremendous” and “very emotional for everybody.”

“It was full of happy faces; a lot of tears and a lot of laughter,” he said, “the Ukrainian parents were very emotional because they depend on the support - they just feel so isolated.”

The aid group has been transporting aid and essential supplies to Ukraine since March, with the first delivery leaving just three weeks after the Russian offensive began.

The volunteers have raised more than £100,000 in total funds, with local businesses providing significant support.

This delivery was, Richard noted, their biggest “by far.”

Richard, who is a director of a Peterborough-based PR agency, is keen to extend his appreciation to all those who have helped his team: “A huge thank you to everybody,” he said, adding: “everybody in Peterborough who’s helped - they are making a difference.”

“It’s really wonderful.”