Former Hartlepool man swapped peaceful Cumbrian countryside for Ukraine frontline to help deliver three tons of aid

But not even that could prepare him for what he witnessed during an unforgettable mission to deliver aid to a war-ravaged part of Ukraine.

The Hartlepool expat, who now lives in the peaceful Cumbrian countryside, recently returned from a perilous ten day journey to Kherson, on the frontline of the war between Ukraine and Russia.

The city has been virtually destroyed by fierce fighting and is under almost constant attack since Ukrainian forces liberated it from Russia in November.

Andy volunteered to accompany an ex-Royal Navy colleague David Pond whose crowdfunding website Ukraine 1st has so far raised £100,000 in humanitarian aid since the start of the war.

Andy, 63, who born and raised in Hartlepool, met up with David for the first time in 40 years near his home in Cornwall last November.

Andy was on holiday nearby and was keen to learn about the charity that David set up shortly after the start of the war.

He said: “At the very outset of the Russian invasion, David felt he needed to do something.

"He spent five weeks sleeping and working at Przmysl Railway station, the border town and only control point for the 1.6 million Ukrainian women and children fleeing the Fascist-Putin invasion.”

It led to David forming a network of like-minded people including contacts from his time in the forces and as CEO of GB wheelchair rugby.

In two previous trips to Ukraine, the charity delivered six refurbished ambulances, medical supplies, and military boots.

This time, the payload was 100 blankets, 20 wood burning stoves and 10 generators weighing three tons in all.

“Whilst he had been into Ukraine on two previous occasions he hadn’t ventured this far east and south, in effect to the frontline; I asked if he needed support,” said Andy.

After meeting up in Poland, they began the long journey to the border and into Ukraine in a battered old Peugeot with a Ukrainian driver who did not speak English.

Andy said: “The journey south was very challenging 17 hours from Lviv, particularly the final 300 of the 800 miles travelled along roads virtually destroyed by the constant passage of heavy armoured vehicles.

“Onward through Mykolaiv, the scene of very heavy fighting in November during the push to liberate the area was just chilling; mine fields to the sea-board side and the detritus of the battles littering the landscape.

“Buildings totally destroyed, burned out Russian tanks, destroyed armoured vehicles and civilian cars strewn either side of the damaged road; so many bullet holes peppering walls and doors and fencing: everywhere, the frightening reality of the intensity of the firefight towards liberation.”

But he said nothing could prepare them for their arrival in the city of Kherson which was under near constant artillery and tank fire just 800 metres (0.4 mies) away across the Dnipro river.

“The explosions started and just kept going,” said Andy. "We both slept light that first evening.

“Nothing seems off limits, the children’s hospital has been hit three times, the main hospital also along with schools and the railway station.”

The following morning they met up with their local contacts, two men who had each suffered family losses in the war, and were taken to a central hub where aid like bread, blankets, utensils for cooking and medical kits are distributed to the local people.

The thermal blankets together with the wood burning stoves they delivered will be used in shelters that the hub makes for people who have lost their homes.

Andy said: “It has been deeply moving to experience the misery and hardship this causes to the lives of those who remain here, many of whom are elderly, disabled and who do not feel able to leave.”

Later, he and David visited children in the nearby village of Muzykivka.

Andy, a married dad of two, explained: "David through his contacts in Warsaw University had had made 250 Christmas presents for them and we were privileged to deliver them on your behalf; a very emotional couple of hours indeed.

"They had been asked to wear their Christmas best and boy did they look great.”

Andy, a retired radiographer who moved away from Hartlepool in around 1999, added: “Even though I had 20 years in the military, it doesn’t prepare you for this.”

He said while aid is arriving, it is deemed too dangerous on the ground even for the big international charities.

A number of challenges are also making it difficult for aid to get to where it is needed most, particularly in rural areas which have been left cut off due to the Russians taking almost all vehicles.

As such, Ukraine Ist’s next funding effort is to raise enough money to buy a second hand 4x4 and a people carrier.

It is the kind of aid Andy said the Ukrainian people now need to be able to help themselves and rebuild their communities.

"By raising funds and transferring some of this to recognised, trusted local humanitarian hubs such as the one here in Kherson, we are meeting real need and allowing individuals to rebuild not just their communities but their own lives, helping them to regain their dignity and sense of purpose,” he said.

Andy is appealing to Ukrainian communities in Teesside if they can help, and also to those in industry, the motor trade, business in general, and local communities.

He said the charity fully understands the financial pressures people are under at the moment, but said after being to Kerson, meeting the people and “the uncertainty as to where the next tank shell will hit”, whatever people can give will make a difference.

"Thank you and ‘Slava Ukraine’.”

To contact Andy with any offers of support email, [email protected]