A CONVOY of lorries left Whitecroft on Friday (April 1) bound for the Polish-Ukrainian border to deliver six 4x4 vehicles and packages containing medical supplies and rations for soldiers fighting on the front line.

Newly-formed group Helping Ukraine Build Back (HUBB), which is based at the Vantage Point Business Village in Mitcheldean, have rallied to collect donations from local businesses and the community which have allowed them to create essential supply packages to be sent to Ukrainian soldiers, as Russia’s invasion of the country enters its sixth week.

Staff from the Forest of Dean Growth Hub, local businessman and Vantage Point owner Brian Bennett and volunteer coordinator Lance Morgan have liaised with ex-service personnel from the UK and Ukraine to establish exactly what is needed by the frontline soldiers fighting the war, and have arranged for the aid’s collection and delivery to the Ukrainian army.

The huge amount of supplies have been amassed by the group in just two weeks, with a focus on providing food and medical aid to those in the thick of the action to defend their country.

The team from Xite Racing in Whitecroft worked to load the lorries up with boxes of supplies

Growth Hub Manager and volunteer Tom El-Shawk explained: “The idea is that we want to make a difference to the soldiers fighting on the front line.

“There’s been lots going on in terms of humanitarian aid to support refugees which needs to happen, but if these guys are fighting on an empty stomach, there’s not going to be a course for them and there will be a lot more refugees than there are currently.”

The group have put together food packages for the soldiers containing dried meals, porridge sachets, protein bars, energy drinks and tea and coffee, as well as stoves, fuel and flints for cooking and water sterilisation tablets.

They have also sent sleeping bags and items of warm clothing including sweatshirts, t-shirts and jackets, and medical supplies including first aid and medical burns kits.

The packages also contain practical items such as tow ropes and jump leads, walkie talkies with batteries and charging packs for mobile phones.

Some of the items have been donated by suppliers, while others have been paid for out of the members’ own pockets.

The 4x4s were sourced from the Mile High Trade Centre in Lydney, which were half-and-half paid for by the group and donated by the centre, and local estate agents KJT have given £500 to fill the vehicles up with fuel.

The volunteers gathered at Vantage Point’s Xite Racing site in Whitecroft last Friday morning, where a team worked to load the 4x4s and boxes of supplies onto the lorries using Xite’s loading equipment.

The team used Xite’s loading equipment to get the 4x4s onto the lorries to be taken to Ukraine

Coordinator Lance Morgan said: “I would like to thank the Vantage Point Xite Racing team, without them none of this would have happened.

“I also want to thank the Mile High Trade Centre in Lydney, who have been a massive help to me in getting all of this together.

“A special thanks also goes to KJ Toombs, who’ve sponsored the fuel to get to the vehicles and supplies over to Ukraine.”

HUBB are now looking to raise awareness of their appeal for further donations and volunteers as the project moves forward.

A statement from the group said: “As the world’s attention slowly slips away from the appalling crisis in Ukraine, those on the front line are desperately seeking some level of comfort after days and even weeks fighting in awful conditions.

“As such we are liaising with contacts in Ukraine to get the supplies they so desperately need.

“Without this, the front line, which is already a miserable place, becomes unbearable and their enemy is able to gain a significant psychological advantage.

“This isn’t speculation, this is what we have been told by those on the front line in Ukraine and by our key supporters who all have outstanding military experience.”

The group say that £50 will give a front line soldier “the ability to eat for a week and help keep their moral levels up”, and that £120 provides key medical equipment “so as to keep front line soldiers alive”, as well as feeding them for five days.

The statement adds: “Please help our action group get these vital supplies to Ukraine so that the country can get back the freedom it so desperately deserves.”

Details of volunteer roles can be found on the group’s social media pages - HUBB Helping Ukraine Build Back on Facebook, @helpingukrainebuildback on Instagram, and @HelpUkraineBB on Twitter.

For more information and to donate to the group, contact Freya Lake at [email protected].