Traffic officers from Ashfield make mercy dash to get ambulance and supplies to war-torn Ukraine

In a 32-hour mercy dash, Alex Brown and Tyler Bond travelled to Przemyśl in Poland to hand over the ambulance to a charity working in the Kharkiv region of eastern Ukraine.

It is a second humanitarian aid trip by the traffic officers from Nottinghamshire who were spurred into action after seeing the shocking images from the war zone.

In March the pair, along with colleague John Cray, hired a van and travelled to Chelm in eastern Poland to hand over clothing, toiletries, toys and supplies that had been donated by local people, friends and family, to help those fleeing the fighting in Ukraine.

They took the items to a charity which temporarily houses women and children refugees until accommodation can be found for them.

Alex, a former Royal Navy veteran, said: “The vast numbers of people who had fled their homes in Ukraine was unreal.

"We saw bed after bed after bed of families and children. We could have taken over ten vans or more and it still wouldn’t have been enough for all the people there.

“Speaking to people on the ground we learnt that they were desperate for medical supplies and transport to help injured civilians and soldiers.

“Once we got home we actually felt quite deflated knowing there was so much more that was needed.”

So the workmates, who are all based at the Felley outstation in Ashfield, set up a Crowdfunder page to raise money to buy an ex-service ambulance and some field supplies such as bandages, compresses, dressings and medical scissors.

They raised £7,000 and on April 23, they set off again for Poland in the ambulance taking the medical supplies, food and more clothing, toys and toiletries that had been donated.

They presented the ambulance to The Kharkiv and Przemyśl Project (KHARPP), a grassroots organisation supporting the humanitarian relief effort in Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, and in the Polish city of Przemyśl.

Alex and Tyler are now working with KHARPP to transport another three ambulances and supplies over.