Run 30 – October 2024

Run 30 was another solo run by Andy as his usual codriver wasn’t available.

This was to be a return to places we visited for the first time during Run 29. Before heading to the port, he dropped by our good friend “Wozza” who had aid items destined for Taras the Priest who was to be the first port of call.
Huge thanks also to Dee Johnson in Uckfield, Michael Kobarenko, Anna Pukas James and members of Brass Band Aid for Ukraine for their generous aid donations.

Here’s the first trip update from Dover:

This was also the first run in the replacement van – without the generosity of the donor, this run would not have been possible and I cannot thank them enough for this.

On the way through Germany, Andy took a break at the former Inner German border crossing at Marienborn where he shared a few thoughts:

Between there and the border, the traffic was a nightmare which led to around 4 hours in delays! But finally, he made it to play the first round of what we call “Border Bingo”!:

It was a trouble free crossing and had Andy not managed to temporarily lose his phone, which had one of the customs declarations on it, would have been a sub 1 hr crossing time!

From there, he headed for the first aid drop in Zhaskkiv with our good friend, Taras the Priest. Sadly, didn’t get a lot of time with him as he is also now a military priest and was heading to join his unit the next day. Taras supports both front line areas and also a military hospital and we had aid items for both on board.

This was the first proper sleep night for Andy so he was refreshed to make the next stage of the journey over to Svitlovodsk and the church we support there. A lot of refugees come here and the team support them both in the City and also out in villages spread across the region.

Our thanks to the team there for helping to unload the van, for feeding Andy and providing another night of sleep in a bed!

From there, it was an easy run across to Kropyvnytskyi to meet up with our saviour from the last run, Anton! He runs a charity called “Help from the Heart” and supports front line activities with a specialism of finding suitable vehicles for the military. As a result of the kind donation to Andy for a replacement van, he now has another to give them! Andy has kindly donated the van and provided funding to fix the engine so that it can live again.

Anton was also able to take us to an orphanage which supports over 150 disabled children, many of which came from a similar home which was destroyed by the Russians. It was very moving to meet some of the kids whilst there.

Ahead of the long run home, Andy had a final nights sleep and set out for the border.

All that remained was to call in at Weeze and deliver the items we had to leave behind when the van broke down – Mike’s body armour, helmet and boots which he needs for his own run which leaves on 13th November.

And finally, Andy arrived at Dunkirk and Run 30 came to an end.