They’re in an hour of need, says Briton handing out food to Ukrainians in Poland

A British man who is handing out food to Ukrainian people who have crossed the border to Poland has described his sadness at seeing people flee their homes.

David Fox-Pitt, 57, from Loch Tay in Perthshire, packed up a van with two pizza ovens and a handful of friends eight days ago and travelled over in a convoy to Poland.

He and his team have set up in Medyka, next to the border crossing of Ukraine to south-west Poland, where they are handing out hot food and drinks to people arriving in the country.

Mr Fox-Pitt, who runs an endurance challenge company called WildFox Events, is volunteering at the border under the umbrella of the charity Siobhan’s Trust, named after his aunt, the late Countess of Dundee, who died in 2019.

The charity was set up to provide humanitarian aid in Dundee and Edinburgh but decided to help the refugees after the war broke out.

He told the PA news agency: “The reason we’ve come here is we’ve been watching the news and it’s pretty horrific what’s going on.

“It’s terrifying to think that human beings are being so stupid, doing something that we did in the Second World War.

“I run a company and we have logistics, tents, marquees, tables, chairs and we thought it’s better to be down here than in a shed in Scotland.

“We’ve been here, this is day eight, and we’re on 24/7. We don’t go to bed. We don’t do luxury hotels, we all sleep on site in our vehicles, in tents.

“So all the money raised for Siobhan’s Trust, every penny goes to the food. My time is voluntary, the equipment is voluntary, so it’s just costs we’re hoping to get covered.”

The team have set up a tent right next to the border entry into Ukraine, handing out pizzas to incoming refugees while playing traditional Scottish music.

Refugees who cross over pass dozens of stalls where food, toys, sanitary products and Sim cards are on offer for them to take.

They then board buses to the nearby town of Przemysl, where they are taken to the train station or stay in refuge centres overnight.

Thousands of people have been flocking over the border over the past week since Mr Fox-Pitt and his team have been in place, with him estimating that around 2,000 hot drinks are being given out each day.

Mr Fox-Pitt said: “We’ve been taking soups and pastas across. They’re really hungry and have been standing for hours.

“It’s mostly women, children and old ladies, sometimes men and the odd boy, but largely women and children.

“It’s very, very sad as they’ve had to say goodbye to their families.”

He added he was not sure how long the team was going to stay out there for, as it depends on what happens across the border.

“Obviously if it gets cut off, we can pack this whole set up and move,” he said.

“Maybe go to some other place, but at the moment we’re serving a purpose here.

“We’ve gone through 14,000 cups since we’ve been here. We thought we’d be affecting 1,000 people a day but it’s 2,000.

“It is exhausting, but we’re used to it. It’s just so sad seeing these people fleeing their homeland. It could be us. It could be me and my family. I believe they’re in an hour of need and we need to be there to support them.”