Two men from Leeds have driven 1300 miles to deliver donations to Ukrainian refugees

The week-long trip will have involved 50 hours of driving to drop off two tonnes of donations.

The journey will have taken around five days, including fifty hours of driving.

Two men from Leeds have made the journey over to the Polish border to deliver over 1,300 miles to deliver supplies to those crossing from Ukraine.

Phil Knowles and Chris Ritter have been documenting their progress on YouTube from Chapeltown to Poland and back.

Their journey began in West Yorkshire on Monday, where a van from Octopus Building Services in Chapeltown has been loaded with food, medical supplies and clothes, weighing almost two tonnes in total.

There have been multiple updates on YouTube, where the men have expressed their gratitude and asked for further donations to the Go Fund Me: Help Ukraine Emergency Appeal, which has so far raised over £2 million.

Read More: Sainsbury’s, Asda, Tesco and Waitrose join the boycott: all the supermarkets removing Russian products from sale

The two men drove over 1,300 miles to Leżajsk, which is close to the Ukrainian border.

The journey saw the two dropping off the supplies at a charity warehouse where front-line medics and volunteers helped unpack the donations collected in Leeds.

Loading the van in Huddersfield. / Image: Leeds-Ukraine-Aid

The workers there expressed explained that the donations will be sent straight to the border, where staff there will use the food, medical supplies and clothes to offer to Ukrainian refugees before the move away from the border point and on to nearby towns and cities.

Supplies most in need at the moment are those that will bring warmth: it gets well below freezing at night so it’s essential that there’s enough to keep the volunteers and refugees warm and fed.

Heat warmers, blankets, nursing blankets and medical supplies, especially for blisters, colds, split ankles are all in needed the most, according to staff in Leżajsk.

In the most recent update from the pair, they told viewers that the experience has been “humbling” saying:

“I think we have the easiest job here, driving for twenty four hours […] I feel as though we have seen a small window into a huge operation here”.

Elsewhere, over £100 million to help refugees fleeing Ukraine as part of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), a government-backed fundraising appeal launched by a group of 15 UK charities. These charities have clubbed together to provide aid to those fleeing their home country.

Warehouses are filling with the emergency supplies. / Image: Go Fund Me

Read More: Brits donate over £100 million to fundraising appeal for refugees fleeing Ukraine

The team are now on their journey back to Leeds, and are continuing to document their experience on their YouTube channel, Leeds-Ukraine-Aid.

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