Aid lorry driver hails 'amazing' response to Ukraine crisis after latest journey
Ukrainian schoolchildren forced to flee the Russian invasion have given emotional thanks to county residents for their support.
Generous efforts from Bridgnorth locals, groups, businesses, sports club members, and a host of others, meant a lorry full of aid was shipped out to Poland last week.
The goods, which also included a host of items donated in Rugby, were driven out to the country by Piotr Czartolomny, in a lorry donated by Bridgnorth haulage firm Clive Cowern Transport Services.
Mr Czartolomny, 51 and from Walsall Wood, used to work at the transport firm, and offered to drive the lorry out to Poland after hearing that the owner, his friend Clive Cowern, wanted to help.
The aid and fundraising had initially been collected in the Bridgnorth area before being taken to the drop-off in Telford and then on to Poland – Mr Czartolomny's home country.
After delivering the items, which have since been taken to Luck in Western Ukraine, Mr Czartolomny, who made the journey with his wife Gosia, used money raised by his sailing and and gliding clubs, as well as friends and clients, to pay for PE kits for Ukrainian children at a Polish school.
Mr Czartolomny had asked what they needed and was told there was a lack of PE kits for the refugee children who are now settling into their new country.
He used some of the £4,000 to pay for the kits – with the Polish shop which supplied them giving one extra.
Pupils from the school in return gave cards outlining their thanks for the generosity of the people who had made the donations possible.
Mr Czartolomny said a lot of people had donated time, money, or items to make the journey possible.
He said: "There has been a huge amount of work that has gone into this from a lot of people and they all deserve credit for what they have done.
"I have seen the volunteers in Telford, I have seen the volunteers in Rugby, I have seen the volunteers in Poland and it is a lot of people donating their time to do what they can to help."
He added that the response from the British people to the Ukraine crisis had been "amazing".
He said: "I have never seen this level of involvement. I have lived in the UK for 15 years and I have not seen this level of involvement for anything else before."
Mr Cowern said they had just wanted to do what they could to help, and said they would probably look to donate another lorry for transport to the country in the near future.
He added that it had been "brilliant" to receive the thank you cards from the young Ukrainians.
He said: "I think the thing for us is it is a war on our doorstep – it is only two days drive away."
