Five HGVs from Yorkshire have been driven thousands of miles to Ukraine to deliver humanitarian aid

Yorkshire Aid Convoy is the charity that has organised the trip, with five HGVs delivering essential supplies to people in Ukraine. The organisation’s unpaid volunteers have been distributing aid to Ukraine, as well as Romania, for the past two decades.

The lorries embarked on their latest journey last Thursday (September 28), driving at all hours of the day to deliver millions of pounds worth of supplies to help those in need. Sanitary items, medicine, clothes and children’s toys are among the items distributed and a thousand computers have also been taken across to help get schools back up and running.

This is Denby Dale councillor, Tim Bamford’s (Con) third convoy to Ukraine, with the councillor and some friends first heading across to deliver supplies last March, not long after the current conflict began. The initial trip saw three vans packed with emergency aid taken across to help people fleeing the Russian invasion.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), he said: “When the war just started we decided we should do something. The charity I’m with now was looking for drivers for their HGVs. I thought that it had gone beyond going out with vans.”

On the current trip the volunteers went back to an orphanage they visited previously which has seen 3.5k children pass through before being placed with families across Europe, in this Summer alone. Taking to Facebook earlier in the week, the Cllr Bamford wrote: “We’ve had a fantastic day. Had a very competitive game of football, which we all enjoyed very much (draw). It was good to see all the equipment we took last time being put to good use but there is a lot more to do.

“We always get a warm welcome from these lovely people that are suffering from this terrible war. I always get a warm glow from seeing the kids smile.”

Cllr Bamford’s wife, Tina, said of the situation in Ukraine: “It’s awful, it’s so sad and you’re not hearing anything about it on the news. I’m so proud there’s still some good being done and we’ve got some people who are willing to give up their time.”

The current trip is coming to an end but YAC are hoping to make another journey to the Ukraine next March and are looking for supplies from medicines to computers.