Raising Funds to buy and deliver a 4x4 evacuation pick-up truck to Lviv in Ukraine
Since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine many charities and other organisations have have mobilised to help Ukrainians in their hour of need. Driving Ukraine was set up by a couple of young Englishmen and a similarly young Ukrainian to buy 4x4 pickup trucks in the UK and deliver them to Lviv in western Ukraine. They are then sent east to the front lines where to be used to evacuate wounded soldiers. The model relies upon volunteers in the UK to raise sponsorship money to purchase the vehicles and then act as drivers taking them the 1,300 mile journey from Banbury to Lviv.
This was what I signed up to do in April 2026 and it was one of the most emotional, challenging, humbling and rewarding experiences of my life. My convoy was made up of 13 vehicles each with two drivers (or more) and supported by the Driving Ukraine team. We became a team of around 30 people from all walks of life, judges, CFO's, students, retired folk (like me) and then two couples who had flown from the US specifically to be a part of this. My co-driver and friend Jason and I raised £11,500 with £2,500 of that coming from an Astrophotography talk I gave (attended by over 150 people!). We were a disparate group who gelled with our common purpose - to do our bit, however small, to help Ukraine and to save lives. The drive to Ukraine took 2.5 days with overnight stops in Germany and Poland before a long wait to cross the border into Ukraine as multiple pieces of documentation were presented, substantiated, stamped, checked again, re-stamped, studied some more and then we were waved through.
Lviv is in the far west of Ukraine, 85 miles from the Polish border, so a long way from the front lines but it is nevertheless a war zone. And this was brought home to us three days before we left the UK when a Russian attack hit the centre of Lviv, badly damaging a UNESCO church. Jason and I had cause to reflect carefully on safety but we spoke to the Ukrainian organiser in Lviv who gave us a thorough briefing on security/air radar/defence capabilities/air raid alerts/bomb shelters etc to ease our worries.
Our convoy delivered the 13 trucks to the workshop where they were to be made ready for the front line - camouflage painted, ruggedised, tyres, medical equipment etc. The following day we were given a tour of the civic buildings by the deputy mayor, serenaded by the Lviv city choir and introduced to the soldiers who would drive the trucks east. This was truly emotional, we were shaking hands and receiving the gratitude of soldiers who a few short years ago were living normal civilian lives with their families. The gratitude was all our's to them. All of Europe's to them. All of the free world to them.
Perhaps the most emotional and humbling experience however was our visit to the Lviv cemetery. Thousands of graves of fallen servicemen and women. Sons/daughters, brothers/sisters, Mums/Dads. All gone but all true heroes. The cemetery was a world of colour, vibrant, living flowers and plants, every grave with huge flags, the yellow and blue of Ukraine, the red and black Independence flag and then battalion flags. And A4 size photographs of the soldier killed defending his/her country. Every one of us volunteers were in tears.
And Driving Ukraine, they keep finding volunteers like Jason and I and they keep delivering life saving vehicles. As of August 2026, they have delivered 404 vehicles in 62 convoys and raised £2.8 million. I applaud Fynn, Jake, Max and the others in their team, truly impressive young men acting with determination, invention and love for their fellow human being. And I send my heartfelt love and thanks to the Ukrainians making sacrifices no-one should be asked to make.
Slava Ukraini!
