Wakefield man is organising to transport urgent supplies to Ukraine to aid refugees

Paul Glover, 70, from Flockton, has set up a GoFundMe appeal to raise enough money to take a 7.5 ton box van laden with supplies to help those who have been made homeless by the conflict.

He said: “I’m sickened by what is going off in Ukraine and I wondered what I could do to help.

“I decided to hire a wagon and drive it over there with my colleague Alun Simms.

“The cost of the van hire is £2,345 including vat for 10 days. I will need fuel for the 3,500-mile round trip and ferry fares so £5,000 should cover one trip - any more I can fund myself.”

Within hours of the site going live £2,365 had already been donated with offers of help coming from all over the UK.

“One call came from Pawell Urbanowicz an online retailer who had said he could potentially source free transport.”

“He was in touch with a Polish transport firm that has wagons coming over to the UK on a daily basis and then going back empty.”

“I saw that donations are flooding in to the Leeds Polish Catholic Centre and when I spoke to someone they told me they had no transport to get it there. So hopefully we can work together.”

Mr Glover has also been in contact with a man in Halifax who has organised for a container-load of donations to be shipped out on Saturday.

He said: “He told me that if any further donations come in after Saturday they will pass them over to me.”

Contact Mr Glover on 07493 226642 if you would like to make a donation: blankets, clothes, tents, sleeping bags and sanitary products are all especially welcome.

To make a financial donation visit the GoFundMe page at gf.me/u/227han