Volunteers from Brighton and Hove have spoken of how they helped hundreds of women and children fleeing war in Ukraine.
On a 2,500-mile round trip they drove three minibuses crammed with items to help refugees whose lives have been devastated by the Russian invasion of their homeland.
Staff from Sussex Security Services delivered aid to an area of Hungary close to its border with Ukraine.
And the Sussex Homeless Support charity vehicle crossed the border into Ukraine to visit the city of Mukachevo to drop off help. All the items delivered in the three minibuses were collected by the charity. The round trip, driving all day, took four days.
Sussex Security Services operations manager Ray Gold thanked people in Brighton and Hove, saying: “It was a very intense few days. When they came back on Friday last week and had a debriefing meeting, it was the first time in four days I felt I could relax with a cup of tea.”
The security firm staff who made the trip were Terri Young, Paul Taylor, Dan Maude, Dan Cleaver and Marton Beres.
Mr Gold said: “Marton’s family is from Hungary so we chose to drop our aid off there, as his family live in Gyongospata and he was able to act as a translator.
“The company decided it was something we wanted to do and it was fully funded out of the pockets of the company’s directors, and it has cost us north of £5,000.
“We have a contract to look after refugees in hotels in England and have first-hand knowledge and experience of what they go through.
“We took the seats out of our buses to create room for the aid and it’s amazing how much you can pack in.
“We had thought when we were there that we might bring some people back or shuttle them away from the border but the Hungarian government have arranged for taxis to transport people across the country so that did not happen.
“The staff dropped off our aid at the village, and took some to the town of Debrecen in eastern Hungary and gave some to a Baptist church which is helping.
“What we found was that most people there hope to go back to Ukraine so they want to stay close to the border. They plan to return to their homes.
“It’s opened the eyes of those who went – it shows what can be done and I am proud of what we did.
“They came back last Friday and had a boxing event at which we did the security and I could see in the eyes of the guys who took part in the trip that they felt a foot taller, having done what they did.”
Many Sussex Homeless Service volunteers helped pack the items donated across Brighton and Hove, which were then driven all the way to Ukraine by charity founder Jim Deans, and volunteers Ed Heller and Charlie Jones.
The charity visited the city of Mukachevo in western Ukraine, which has largely escaped Russian attacks. About 85,000 people live there.
Mr Deans said: “Among other things, we took them 60 litres of diesel, 800 gas canisters and 40 gas cookers. We were only there for 24 hours. In my life I have never met people so grateful for the littlest of things – for a shower head or a pair of flip-flops.
“There is a big need for toiletries, women’s sanitary products, shower heads. We met officials in Mukachevo and they were telling us all about what happened over there.
“Officials had a list of 40,000 people and they were listing where people hoped to go and it might surprise some – but nobody was planning to come to the UK!”
Mr Deans is heading back to Ukraine this coming Monday (28 March) and the urgent needs for aid remains.
Anyone wanting to contribute medical items, sanitary goods or other items, can do so at Sussex Homeless Support which is based in Providence Place, just behind London Road, in central Brighton.
