November 19th, 2024
In this event report, our newsletter editor Frances Lloyd recounts Paul’s inspiring talk about his courageous work to help people in Ukraine.
Since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022, Paul has been going in and out of the country taking humanitarian assistance from the UK to support local communities. This is mostly on his own, but he also works with other charities and individuals. He is just back from his 24th trip. These trips each cost between £500 and £600.
Paul showed us a video of him delivering aid in Kharkiv with background noise of alarms going off which he said is “the backdrop every day and night”. He showed us a map of Ukraine, which is the second largest European country in area after Russia, and has a population of 44 million. The map showed which parts of Ukraine Russia has occupied. 3.7 million people have been driven from their homes and many are refugees in their own country. 14.6 million people needed humanitarian assistance in 2024. The big cities are attacked every week if not daily. Paul started by working with Eden Aid, a charity hooking up Ukrainians with sponsors in the UK. He told us Dania’s story who was in Kyiv with her two children and a dog waiting to get to the UK. He drove over and picked them up. She was horrified at the destruction she saw 15-20 minutes away from her home. By the time they arrived in Poland she started to relax. She is now living in Church Stretton sponsored by a person in the Wirral and has her own home, a job and the children are in school.
Continue reading “Event Report: In Ukraine”