Humaitarian Aid For Ukraine

Hi everyone,

 

For those of you that don't know me, my name is Joe Peden and I live in Manchester. I'm retired, but you'll occasionally find me coaching at my local Judo club in Sale, Hosaka Kwai.

 

What have you been doing in Poland?

 

For the past week I have been volunteering at the refugee centre on the Polish-Ukrainian border at Zosin. You'll see from my daily updates that I'm being kept pretty busy and that we're attempting to respond to a highly-dynamic situation.

 

I've already spent in excess of £5,000 of my own money on food and medical supplies. These supplies have been  used here in the relief centre plus but we've also been able to fill several vans that have been sent across the border into Ukraine. These supply runs have topped-up numerous distribution points within Ukraine itself, to support the people still trapped on that side of the border.

 

Why have your plans changed?

 

When I booked my plane tickets, I'd planned to come out to Poland and help to transport refugees away from the border so that they could continue their onward journey to safety. I've driven several thousand miles in my hire car doing just that but having been here for a week, I've also seen new ways in which we can support the people here.

 

What is the aim of this fundraiser?

 

Specifically, the group I've been working with here would like to purchase two ambulances and a van. The plan is for the ambulances to be stocked up with medical supplies and sent out to Donbas where the fighting is currently quite intense. They'll stay there and help to extract the injured to safer locations further west. The van will replace a bullet-riddled vehicle that one of the volunteers has been using to get supplies to distribution points in Ukraine.

 

 

We've already identified the vehicles we'd like to procure and simply need to raise enough money to complete the purchases.

 

 

How can I help you?

 

Obviously, things are not easy at home with the price of...pretty much everything rising. Please, please help me in this effort. Any donation, large or small, will be greatly appreciated.

If you can't donate, I'd very much appreciate you sharing my campaign. It might not seem like much but it could help to get it in front of someone who might be able to support our efforts here.

To be clear, 100% of funds raised by this campaign will be given to Father Maceij of Caritas. Fr. Maciej runs this relief centre I've been working with and has sourced the vehicles I mentioned earlier. You can find Father Maciej and me on Facebook. Please take a look at our profiles to see more detailed updates about our work.