Leeds businessman driving 2,600 miles to drop off aid for Ukrainian refugees in Poland

It follows an amazing response from family, friends and local businesses, which saw him donated humanitarian aid and more than £5,000 in donations via gofundme

Kev, who owns the Home Utility Group in Morley, says he now has one of his company vans full of supplies and clothing, which should arrive at the Poland/Ukraine border on Saturday evening.

"I own my own company so am fortunate we have vans so we were able to do something.

"We are driving over with a van full of every bit of humanitarian aid I could get my hands on, from surgical equipment to medicines, to washing facilities, to ladies' hygiene, coats, everything - the van is so full I wouldn't fit another toothbrush in it.

"The support from people has been absolutely overwhelming and incredible."

Kev and Elliott have set off from the Travellers Inn, Stanley, this afternoon on what will ultimately be a five-day round trip to Lublin on the Ukraine/Poland border.

The two will take the Zeebrugge ferry from Harwich in Essex and take the overnight ferry to Zeebrugge in Belgium. From there the duo will drive to Germany and stop in Berlin on night two, before a seven and a half hour journey to Lublin, where the goods will be dropped off at a designated hotel to deposit supplies for refugees.

They will then have an overnight stay in Warsaw before making the journey home.

"I must admit," added Stanley resident Kev. "When we first set it up, I thought 'oh, I can get over there easily', but then I realised what was actually involved!

"The good news is that everywhere has dropped their Covid requirements apart from Poland, so we have to do a CPR test there, but that's the only one fortunately."

Kev added that the money donated would go towards refugee charities helping the Ukrainians.