After a 3,500 mile round trip and nearly 20 hours of return travel to donate humanitarian aid, Cllr Simon Cassidy arrived back in foggy Liskeard in the early hours of February 15.
Seven vans filled with humanitarian aid, which had been donated by people in South East Cornwall, travelled in convoy across Europe over five days to a humanitarian hub in outside of Ukraine.
The aid consisted of 25 tonnes of; nappies, incontinence pads, baby food for all ages, premature baby clothes, newborn baby clothes, sleeping bags, airbeds, defibrillators, survival bags, dry bags. first aid equipment, trauma kits, burns kits, first responder bags, all over-the-counter medication, personal hygiene items, toiletries, sanitary products, foil blankets, power banks, generators, thermal socks, thermal underwear, handwarmers, feet warmers, any and all medical equipment, wheelchairs, walking frames, mobility aids, Easter eggs for the children of Ukraine and shoeboxes of love for frontline workers.
On his return, Cllr Cassidy has expressed his gratitude to all those who have supported the journey and those in Ukraine who the humanitarian aid was donated too.
Cllr Cassidy said: “Coming home is a whole bag of mixed emotions. You have a kind of survivors guilt.
“You run all the way across Europe and back with the adrenaline going because you want to help support these amazing people and of course you’re working alongside an amazing team that you’ve developed a really close bond with over the course of five days, but then when you get home everyone goes off in different directions to their loved ones and it’s really tough - you’ve faced this together, but now you’re back alone.
“It’s really difficult to explain the emotions that you feel, and I think you can only ever fully understand them if you’ve been there.
“For me every time I think of the faces I’ve seen it makes me cry, but at the same time it gives me the resolve to do as much as I possibly can to support them.
“They are truly amazing people who just want you to hold their hand and support them. Huge thanks to everyone who has supported us on our journey.
“Whilst it’s really great to be back home our thoughts will always be with our Ukrainian friends - it really hurts to leave them.
“Huge thanks to Mike at Liskeard Radio for being such an amazing copilot, Darren Polly and all my fellow drivers from Cornwall and Devon sending love to Ukraine everyone who supported us on this important journey, to all the amazing volunteers at the Emporium in Callington as well as the amazing team lead by Arina over in Poland.”
Reflecting on his first trip to Ukraine, Mike Allsopp said that he “travelled with 12 great individuals”.
Mike said: “We all hear about aid convoys in the news but to actually be part of one taking so much in the way of medical and humanitarian supplies across Europe, to where it is so desperately needed, was personally very fulfilling.
“It was a long and gruelling, caffeine-fuelled, service-station visiting, journey but I travelled with 12 great individuals all of whom were prepared to raise funds to cover their own travel costs and had been involved in many of the previous 18 trips organised by ‘Sending Love To Ukraine’.
“I was immediately embraced as a family member. It felt like a mission shared.
“On our arrival at the depot in Warsaw, on day three, we were cheered and greeted with genuine gratitude by a team of young people all of whom had their own tragic stories to tell and who loved us, and all those that donated the aid, for what we were doing for the people of Ukraine.
“Every member of the team put their backs into unloading each of our seven large vans onto pallets and trolleys before storing them in the warehouse unit.
“It was only then that we could take time to have a meal and chat with our hosts.
“The Ukraine war is no longer headline news yet the fighting and devastation continues and without the likes of my new friends, who give their time and efforts freely, and the people of Devon and Cornwall who donate so readily, there would be no respite or cheer for those who have already lost so much.
“If you feel you’d like to get involved in future trips please just contact Darren Tait on 07930616264.”
To find out more about Cornwall and Devon Sending Love to Ukraine visit: https://sendinglovetoukraine.org
To help with the cost of this trip visit: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mike-allsopp?