Ambulances and medical supplies to be sent from Cornwall to Ukraine
Over £38,000 has been raised to offer medical support to those on the ground
Last updated 12th Apr 2022
A Cornish man who helped to fundraised enough for three ambulances and medical supplies to send to Ukraine, is set to return to the border in the next few weeks.
David Pond from Kingsand, told us there's a continual need for medical aid and people on the border to offer humanitarian crisis help across Poland and Ukraine.
He said: "We identified really what their requirements were and that ranged from ambulances through to other medical equipment as well. We've managed to find, fund and deliver three ambulances to different parts of Ukraine.
"There'll always be more required because this is a very significant crisis. I've developed a really good network in Poland and really good network with the resistance and civilian movements in Ukraine so I'll be going back there to support those lines".
On their previous visit, David Pond with a fellow former Naval Officer, Nick Butler and Marcus Butler, who is married to a Ukrainian, helped thousands of woman and children on the Polish border from Ukraine.
David, at the time said: "We are all about bringing medical relief to the many innocent civilians who have been caught up in the tragedy of this conflict. We are already making an impact here and have been able to deliver medical supplies to meet the growing humanitarian need".
Below you can watch the crew on the ground...
But David told us the situation in Ukraine still isn't going away. He sees the need to return and continue to help at the start of May and continue to raise money for supplies.
He said: "The fundraising has gone really well. The Crowdfunder has already raised over £38,000 and most of that is already spent. The idea is money in, money out".
"It's still pretty desperate, it's very very difficult to relay the sense of that situation but it's a really bleak situation".
"It's not just ambulances. There's a massive need for continually trying to provide them with the kind of medical support and the security protections that they need maybe that's just protective vests for example so that they can go actually go out and maybe pick up people that are injured and get them into ambulances or get them into safety".
The team of volunteers are also supporting those displaced persons who wish to come to the UK by transporting them from the border to those agencies that can process their applications.
David said: "The important thing is to be working with the Polish and the Ukrainians. Hopefully Ukrainians will be arriving to Cornwall and we can help them with that.
"This is going to go on for a long time... What I'm in the process at the moment of doing is drawing up a charity where we can deliver this medical help more easily.
"We are enormously grateful to those who have immediately committed to this cause and are hoping our humanitarian work will encourage others to do so".
Dawn Bebe, co-founder of Crowdfunder.co.uk, said: "We were delighted to help David and team make an immediate impact. Crowdfunder has raised over £1million for Ukraine and we encourage people who want to help get urgent funds to the right places to support crowdfunded charity and volunteer projects like this."
Their fundraising currently stands at over £38,900 and you can donate to the cause here.