OV9

Good work, chaps.

Vehicle sorted, XLWB 9-seat Vito.

Nice one.

Fund at £2595

We have been totally overwhelmed by the generosity. It's quite emotional. We've had some specific requests for how to spend certain donations - one specifying they want to see aid for children, another specifying "women's things" ! We are doing our utmost to do the right thing everywhere.

With a vehicle secured we're now able to confirm Wednesday 16th as the departure date.

It was a big night, we hit the funding target and bought a vehicle within an hour of each other

Impressive stuff guys!

We also have +£300 in offline pledges

Gavster wrote: Fri Mar 11, 2022 10:12 pm It was a big night, we hit the funding target and bought a vehicle within an hour of each other

For clarity - in case anyone was wondering - the donations are not paying for the van. That has been funded completely separately.

Fantastic work guys

I can't help in any practical way - no money, and no real contextually useful southern contacts - but nicely done you pair of BELMs, and all the best.

Fingers crossed the conflict zone stays localised - if it even remotely seems likely to expand, get the fuck out. You're no use as shrapnel filled remains. Regroup, re-fund, and retry.

Be realistic about your goals, and best of luck

We even have some passengers lined up now, if that's an appropriate word ? It feels like refugee has so many negative overtones. My wife posted to a couple of local groups and a friend of a friend in Yateley (~3 miles from here) got in touch to say that her mother and aunt & uncle, all in their sixties, are somewhere between Kyiv and the Polish border right now. They left their apartment in Kyiv in the first few days and went to a place in the country but supplies ran out and the last they heard they were somewhere near Lviv. She is able to house them and look after them in her house in Yateley. They just need transport. So that gives us a specific aim and we can build everything else we do around that.

Great stuff getting a van already.

If the plan is to get a family back to the UK rather than elsewhere in mainland Europe the situation with people trying to get visas in Poland to come to the UK sounds like a nightmare, A local chap has gone out there - he managed to crash a Sky TV broadcast… about 1m30 in

The local family are arranging the Visas, fingers crossed they are able to navigate that process

There might be a bit of waiting around, that’s all.

How are you thinking you’ll distribute the donations when you get somewhere with a van full of stuff?

Gavster wrote: Fri Mar 11, 2022 9:05 amIn other updates, someone who lives a couple of miles from SJ has been in touch asking if we could collect their mother, aunt and uncle. They evacuated from Lviv a couple of days after strikes started and have been hiding in the countryside, but now running out of supplies so heading for the Polish border. Their family are arranging UK Visas, so we could bring them back to their family.

That's just mind boggling and utterly depressing - would be amazing if you could pick them up and bring them over.

I did wonder if your best bet would be to try and buy a vehicle and then flip it when you get back.

Outstanding. Few quid in from us Skippers.

Ascender wrote: Sat Mar 12, 2022 12:13 pm

Gavster wrote: Fri Mar 11, 2022 9:05 amIn other updates, someone who lives a couple of miles from SJ has been in touch asking if we could collect their mother, aunt and uncle. They evacuated from Lviv a couple of days after strikes started and have been hiding in the countryside, but now running out of supplies so heading for the Polish border. Their family are arranging UK Visas, so we could bring them back to their family.

That's just mind boggling and utterly depressing - would be amazing if you could pick them up and bring them over.

I did wonder if your best bet would be to try and buy a vehicle and then flip it when you get back.

We looked at some cheap ones then I started phoning around and telling our story then lowballing people with offers. The guy with this one was from E Europe, it was advertised at £4,450 (overpriced, to be fair) and I told him our budget was £3k, he said yes almost without hesitation. Nice guy with quite a few cars too, including a chimp

tim wrote: Sat Mar 12, 2022 3:57 pm Outstanding. Few quid in from us Skippers.

Thanks Tim!

Is getting the Vito home arranged?
seller.
Fingers crossed you can make contact with that lass' family.

Fair play, this is mighty impressive guys
As mentioned, how are you getting the van? Do you need a lift?

Took a load of stuff (water, bog roll, paracetamol, toothbrushes and toothpaste, dog crate etc) over to a local house near us last week as the Air Force chap who lives there has a Ukrainian wife organising collections and delivery of said stuff to Banbury, from where it’s trucked to Poland.

Whilst unloading the contents of his boot into their garage she had a tear in her eye over the clear generosity of the locals (loads of stuff ready to go).

I shed a tear on the way home. Planning on going over again next week, loads of people are.