Run 10 – 4th-20thNovember 2022

Firstly we delivered to our friends Steel Ray in Lviv with much needed medical and surgical equipment which then is distributed both to civilian and military medical facilities throughout Ukraine.

We then reloaded both the van and trailer for onward travel to Kyiv area delivering to our contact Марина Вячеславівна where we then assisted her distributing aid not only to recently displaced families but also a large proportion of our load was sorted and loaded on to two vans that then delivered to both Kherson and Mykolaiv regions.

Our load managed to reach over a hundred families in immediate need within a very short space of time.

We were also very lucky to be able to travel to Dnipro city to collect Lora, a lone lady whose immediate area was under almost constant attack from missiles. Fortunately, we had word that her visa to enter the UK came through whilst we were in Kyiv and we were able to offer her safe passage all the way back to the UK upon our return. She is now safe and sound with her sponsor.

This is why Lora wanted to get out – this video was taken on the 17th November 2022, just days after we took Lora back to the UK:

Winter is well and truly established now and its harsh out there to say the least especially worsened by the lack of power caused by the latest wave of attacks on the infrastructure.

Some personal reflections from Mike during this trip:

“Whilst the girls are shopping I’ve taken the opportunity to take a quiet moment to reflect on the this last week in Ukraine. This, I have to say has been a week of luck, frustration , fear, immense sadness and also pure joy which has emotionally exhausted me. I am now feeling this beautiful country is becoming my second home and along the way many lifelong friendships have developed. My desire to continue to fight to continue bringing aid to this wonderful nation is stronger than ever and whatever it takes, so long as I draw breath, I will continue my work. To hear the story of so many people who have lost everything and everyone and to not continue would be a moral crime. On this run we have gone deeper in and touched more lives than ever before and I feel privileged to know our actions have brought ,albeit only a glimmer, some light to what for many here is a very dark place at the moment. Slava Ukraini“

Mike Hockham, Founding member of Ukraine Fundraiser 2022, 14th November 2022