Epsom man helping people in Ukraine: "If you can help somebody you should”
He's told his son "I need to go and help these people because they need help."
An Epsom hospital security chief who has done two trips to Ukraine says he thinks helping out in the region is “something he’ll always be doing”.
Paul Grzegorzek is an ex-police officer and former Territorial Army infantryman, who said at the start of the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, he considered joining their foreign legion.
But he said his “days running around with a rifle” were behind him and he realised his skills gained in jobs since his time in the TA would be better used to support relief efforts in the country.
The Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust head of security said his second trip involved more than 30 hours driving to deliver perishable donations and a day there before flying back home.
When the conflict started, Mr Grzegorzek lost touch with an aunt of his who lives in the south west of the country, which he said made him “panic”.
He added: “My ideal is that on one of these trips, we will be able to get far enough into Ukraine that I can drop in for a cup of tea.”
Continuing to raise awareness of the need for donations and help is still important according to Mr Grzegorzek, and the organisation he has been working with, Road to Ukraine, has people signing up to help into September.
On his first trip in March, the security chief spent eight days in and around the Polish border town of Przemyśl.
He added: “We knew we were driving into potentially a war zone or refugee crisis, but the intelligence, the information coming through was quite disjointed.”
Working as one of “thousands and thousands” of volunteers, Mr Grzegorzek said everything was largely organised on WhatsApp groups, with people registering as medics, drivers and interpreters.
He helped with delivering water to Ukrainians arriving at the border who had been travelling for days to get there, and said urgency was a key part of being able to help on the ground.
“We’re about getting stuff done now because it needs doing now,” he said.
“Things like water, you don’t phone base and go: ‘Right okay, can we sort out sourcing some water?’
“You go and buy it on your credit card, you get paid back, you keep the receipt, you go and get it to the people that need it, when they need it.”
On one trip to take water to people arriving at the border, which they wheeled over in shopping trolleys on foot, the temperatures fell from 18 to 19 degrees in the daytime to around -5 degrees at night.
The group of volunteers then headed back to the base to get hats, scarves and warm clothes for those at the border.
He also described the scene at a refugee centre, where interpreters worked to help people with plans and documentation, as “heart-breaking”.
Mr Grzegorzek said: “You’ve got all these people, they don’t want to be leaving Ukraine, going elsewhere.
“They want to carry on with their lives. And unfortunately, that’s been ruined for them, certainly in the short term and probably in the mid term as well.”
He is fitting in the trips not only around his job but also around two young sons, who are six and three.
Explaining it to the six-year-old is a little easier, though he said he is still trying to introduce nuance because not everything can be broken up into “goodies” and “baddies”.
He said: “I’ve explained to him that I need to go and help these people because they need help.
“And I’ve said that I’d like to think that if we were in the position where we needed the same help, and those people could help they would come here and help us.”
With a focus still on fundraising, he said his eldest son is also planning to draw pictures to sell, to help raise money to send to Ukraine.
“I think it’s really, really important to grow up understanding that if you can help somebody you should,” Mr Grzegorzek said.
He said: “I think it’s something that from now on, I will always be doing. All the time I’m needed to help, I’ll be helping.”
Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.