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I'm volunteering with Eden Aid, a refugee charity linked to the International Refugee Trust (IRT). I'll be driving to the Ukraine border delivering supplies then bringing back people (and their pets). 

This is an ongoing mission: the war is not over and though it may no longer be top of the news agenda, that doesn't mean the problem has gone away. In fact, as a devastating stalemate looms, people who thought they might be able to stay in their homes are realising they have to leave. Meanwhile, the global economic repercussions are only worsening with famine and escalating fuel prices. 

This isn't a one-off campaign: it's for the long-term and needs constant support. 

EDEN AID has so far: 

DELIVERED 283 pallets of aid

BROUGHT BACK 489 displaced Ukrainian refugees to start new lives in the UK.

TRANSPORTED 56 dogs, 42 cats (and 1 Guinea pig) with their owners.

HELPED 102 other refugees to move to new homes in mainland Europe. 

It costs £2,500 per week to rent and run one of our minibuses (rent is around £1,000 and the running costs are £1,500 for each vehicle). If you have a 9-seater minibus or MPV that you can lend for a week or two then please, please please get in touch directly to annamariesolowij@mac.com.

I'm volunteering for two reasons: because it's important to help other people and secondly because my father, who died in the early 2000s, was Ukrainian and he found refuge in Britain after the Second World War, having fought on the side of the Allies. His family's life had changed under Soviet rule: they were told they would be freed from capitalism but my dad said 'instead they 'freed' us of everything we had'. It's hard not to think that history is repeating itself when you consider the so-called rationale behind the current conflict. 

As the daughter of a Ukrainian refugee, I want to help bring Ukrainian people fleeing conflict to the UK so that they can re-start their lives in a country that welcomed my father 80 years ago.