I’ve volunteered to drive to the Ukraine / Polish border for EdenAid, an organisation that brings back vulnerable refugees who can’t fly (be they old, sick, with a disability, very pregnant, with pets, with several young children, or a fear of flying) to their host families across Europe and the UK.  The drive out there is used to deliver medical supplies and other essentials for onward travel into Ukraine.

My amazing school (Beech Lodge) donated the use of their minibus over the summer holidays as well as an incredibly generous £3000.  And I've raised a further £7000 over the summer.  

However, this crisis is not going away.  And I’d like to raise a further £5,000 to fund additional trips moving in to the Autumn and Winter.  It costs £2,000 - £2,500 per 4-day trip (for fuel, vehicle hire, channel crossings, hotels, food etc.).  This will cover a further two return trips, each delivering 3k of medical/essential supplies and with 7 refugees per vehicle (plus pets), another 14 Ukrainians.  So around £300 for each refugee rehomed.

I decided to get involved with Edenaid after getting to know a lovely family who arrived in our Oxfordshire village in mid May, as this gave me a (tiny) sense of what it means to be safely housed, whilst starting the process of trying to rebuild shattered lives.  Photos in my Gallery show Danylo who is just 8 years old, settling in to  village life and school, made more bearable with the help of his beloved little dog Yeva.  £1200 will get another family like Danylo's over to the UK.

In the five months since it was set up, EdenAid has:

Raised £265,000 raised so far including £43,000 worth of free minibuses lent to us by Schools and friends 

Done 24 Trips with 81 vehicles have driven 183,000 miles over the past 21 weeks

Delivered 238 pallets of medical supplies, hygiene & sanitary products and food with an approx. value of £278,000

Brought 524 Displaced Ukrainians back to host families in the UK … plus 156 who came across on 4 busses with Coaches2Ukraine which has now merged their operations into EdenAid

Helped a further 102 Displaced Ukrainians to move across Europe

A voluntary organisation, EdenAid is entirely reliant on your donations to keep this mission going ... extremely tough given the plethora of great charities out there competing for funds.  But this terrible war is ongoing.  It is still very, very, real, with thousands of displaced Ukrainians desperately needing our support. £300 will get one Ukrainian to a safe home.  Thank you so much in advance for supporting me to support them.  

EdenAid are now partnered with the International Refugee Trust (IRT) so that Gift Aid can be secured from all the money raised from UK taxpayers. https://www.irt.org.uk

Please visit edenaid.org for more information and testimonials from folk helped so far.  Or read on for more information.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the International Refugee Trust (EdenAid's partners, so Gift Aid can be claimed) . So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for EdenAid.

More information about EdenAid:

By Troels Henriksen – Co Founder – EdenAid.org:

The people we focus on helping are the vulnerable. In particular - the ones that can’t fly. Be they old, sick, or disabled, very pregnant, with pets, Mums with several small kids, or just have a fear of flying.
 
It’s been very humbling and hugely emotional helping these amazing people. They are just like you and I, except for ... what they’ve gone through. No men, just women and children, ripped from their homes, leaving behind their sons, dads, husbands. Carrying often not more than a borrowed suitcase - all that is left from their past life. 

Sasha from Bucha whose car was shot at as they escaped, her mum suffering 9 bullet wounds. Lera with a two-month-old baby Sophia whose house was bombed to the ground. Olena, with 5 children between 3 and 14, who have never been out of their little village in Ukraine, and now are in a hostel in Warsaw. Lidia from Mariupol, who was deported to Russia, travelled with volunteers out and has nothing to return to and nothing left... you get the picture.

There is a continuous stream of refugees coming – for many reasons but in particular:

• People coming out of the East, Kharkiv, Mariupol etc., are finally making it to the West and securing Visa’s for the UK.
• The pet licensing system is starting to resolve itself and licenses are now being received – the only way to get into the UK with a pet is in a vehicle … you can’t fly, take the train, or go on a ferry as a walk-on passenger; and
• Many that originally stayed behind are now realising the war is far from over and so are now deciding to leave – with Kyiv coming under attack again after many weeks this will undoubtedly trigger a new surge.

It costs us £2,000 per week to rent and run one of our minibuses (rent is around £750 and the running costs are £1,250 for each vehicle).  So, if you have a 9-seater “minibus or MPV” that you can lend us for a week or two, or you know an organisation that might be able to help with this, then please get in touch via edenaid.org or call me on: 07967 102 674

Thank you so much for your support.