Ukraine: The Sheffield volunteers supporting efforts to evacuate Ukrainians

The total number of people who have fled Ukraine since war there began in February now stands at more than four million.

That’s four million people uprooted from their homes, their families and their communities, leaving behind jobs, belongings and loved ones to face an uncertain future in another country.

Almost certainly, it is out of desperation and fear that they act, as the conflict ravages on, threatening lives and livelihoods and destroying homes and infrastructure.

A collective of volunteers has been helping a number of them, independently operating a 56-seater ‘Bus For Peace’, providing a vital route to safety for Ukrainians who have no other means to flee the country.

Their efforts have been focused around Uman in central Ukraine, where people have been arriving from the heavily bombed and damaged port city of Mariupol.

They, and Uman residents, are among those that the Bus For Peace has transported to allocated places of refuge in Poland.

Niall Gordon, who lives in Sheffield, spent four weeks driving the bus for the rescue mission, which has taken several hundred women, children and babes-in-arms across the border.

“We would spend a good 15 to 20 hours with [each group of] people. I would be driving for a lot of that time but my colleague would go around and make sure they had everything they needed, food, water, that sort of thing,” the 31-year-old explains.

“The further east you go, the less English speakers you get in Ukraine but you could see particularly in the eyes of the fathers the worry, the anticipation, that their wives and daughters and sons would be safe.

“The big thing you pick up on is that everyone is really hoping and praying that there will be a fast resolution to this. But it’s such a fluid situation and a great unknown for them whether they will see their families again.”

As the situation in Ukraine unfolded, Niall and his partner Megan Lloyd began thinking about what they could do to help, when they were approached by Brussels-based friends Clifford Wilson, a language coach for the European Parliament and Danielle Turkov Wilson, a humanitarian activist and filmmaker, about taking action.

Writing about how Bus For Peace came about, Danielle and Megan say: “As humanitarian activists and parents of young children, when we first heard about the devastating attack on Ukraine, our hearts broke.

“We could only think about the fear, anxiety and desperation people must be feeling. It rapidly became clear to us that this war would not end in a few days or weeks.

“We felt we had to do something. With our combined skill-sets, the mission was clear: get on the ground and save lives.”

Danielle, the founder of Think-Film Impact Production, a media organisation which uses visual storytelling to raise awareness of social and political issues, and Megan, who is a finance business partner and community volunteer based in Sheffield, began work behind the scenes.

They set about coordinating a mission to assist with evacuating people from Ukraine and began building support to raise funds to finance the effort.

Niall and Clifford, drivers for the mission, picked up a coach the group had sourced in Prague in the Czech Republic at the start of March, sorted their documentation and began their first trip the following week.

“One of the major issues over there at the moment is human trafficking, which is absolutely horrendous,” Niall says. “So having the correct documentation in place with the Ukrainians enabled us to effect successful missions.

“One of the challenges that we knew we would go in facing was large fuel shortages in Ukraine which led us to a coach with an extra large fuel tank so we could go in and out on one fill.”

The coach takes essential aid into Ukraine and then picks up people in need including women, children, the elderly and those with incurable diseases to take them out of the country.

They are being transported to Poland, where officials and aid organisations are then supporting them.

Niall, who has two sons, Freddie, four, and Archie, one, left behind his young family to support the mission for four weeks. “When we would arrive at the designated pick up location in Ukraine, there were groups of women and children who had already fled from their loved ones and you could see their desperation but also their relief that they were going to be taken to safety,” he says.

“There were then more local people who were saying their goodbyes, the fathers staying behind to be conscripted. It’s heartbreaking seeing families broken up like that.”

Niall was a navigation officer in the Navy for six years, carrying out counter-piracy work in the Middle East and humanitarian relief efforts during the Libyan conflict in 2011.

He now runs South Yorkshire-based events production company Atropos Events, a line of work that involves him driving large vehicles. That combination of skills served him well abroad - and he is now offering support to the mission from back home.

Evacuation work is continuing in Ukraine meanwhile. Bus journeys can span up to 1,000km each day and to keep the mission running, the team is fundraising to cover core operational costs including fuel, administration and humanitarian supplies.

“I’ve seen first-hand how many people are terrified of the advancing Russian invasion but have no means to escape,” says Clifford. “No-one should be left behind to face the dangers of war alone.”

His wife Danielle adds: “Hundreds of people are asking for our help every day and we are struggling to keep up. One bus alone is not enough.”

With the support of film-maker Grigorij Richters, the #BusesForUkraine campaign has been established to upscale relief efforts. The campaign is working to pull together more buses and drivers to help evacuate more people.

As Niall helps with sourcing more drivers and building fundraising support for the continuing efforts of his fellow volunteers in Ukraine, he reflects on one particular moment that has stuck with him as a father to his young boys.

“There was one mother with two boys pretty much the same age as my two and all they had to their name was a couple of carrier bags with a few clothes in,” he says.

“The little boys didn’t have anything to play with. I think of the toys my two children have got and you know, it’s just so upsetting. People’s whole lives are being ripped to pieces over what is such an unnecessary conflict.”

The Bus For Peace is funded solely by the team of volunteers and community donations and is free to Ukrainians in need.

Its operating costs are around £630 per day, covering fuel as well as food, water, blankets and medicines for the people the team is supporting.

Volunteers have been working in collaboration with local Ukrainian mayors and citizens on the ground, to ensure the safe, efficient and orderly evacuations of some of the country’s most vulnerable people.

Donations to the initiative can be made at tfip.org/ukraine-action

The team is also spreading the word about #BusesForUkraine. People can visit busesforukraine.com to arrange buses and drivers as part of the effort to evacuate more people.