A man from the Wirral described his trip delivering humanitarian aid to an orphanage in war-torn Ukraine as an experience that 'words can't describe'.
Grandad Michael Ross, 46, drove from the UK to an orphanage in the province of Chernivtsi, Ukraine, with several ambulances full of humanitarian aid and essentials. He was accompanied on his trip through the country, currently under Russian invasion, by his close friend and Paul Stevenson, without whose military experience Michael said would've made the trip 'impossible'.
Michael was haunted by the harrowing images coming out of Ukraine and decided to help in anyway he could. A director of Ambulance Aid UK, who deliver the life-saving vehicles to Ukraine, told Michael how he could help via their charity.
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Michael was told that if he could raise £9,000 he could purchase an ambulance and join them in convoy on their next trip to Ukraine. They managed to raise the money, despite a tiny window to do so, thanks to the generosity of the Cheshire Mark Masons and the Cheshire Freemasons.
Michael and Paul set off on May 4, first to Essex, to collect the ambulance, then to Krakow, Poland, before they crossed the border into Ukraine. The dad of four told the ECHO: "Just trying to get into Ukraine was a nightmare.
"The queues of vehicles of people trying to get aid in was miles and miles long. It was the same when we got through the checkpoint, the amount of people trying to get out was just as long.
"We went through 32 armed checkpoints. The country goes into lockdown and curfew at different times depending on what city or town you're in. In Lviv it was 11pm until 6am
"The first night we were in Lviv there were air raids and there was a guy driving down the street with a tannoy telling everyone to get into the bunkers. I suppose it's probably similar to what people experienced during the Blitz in WWII."
The team then handed over the ambulances, which were taken to Kyiv and other places where they were needed most. Michael, Paul and a small team then headed to an orphanage in Chernivtsi to deliver vital humanitarian aid and essentials they had brought, as well as a few non-essentials to put smiles on the children's' faces.
Michael said: "Their reaction was absolutely unbelievable. It probably made it the most worthwhile thing I've ever done.
"It was just unbelievable. Words can't describe it really.
"We took a load of teddy bears. One of the thing we do in freemasonry is that we have a charity called TLC- Teddies for love and care- and we give them round to local hospitals in the UK throughout the country to cheers kids up.
"So we took two boxes of teddies with us and we handed them out. Even the big kids wanted one, you could just see their faces light up to see someone caring about them.
"We also stopped on the way and we bought every sweet available at a petrol station and we handed out all the sweets to the kids.
"They get no support whatsoever from the Ukrainian government. Literally everything they get is from donations or volunteers.
"It was originally set up as a place for domestic violence survivors to go, with a capacity for about 80 people. They've now got 250 in there, it's an unbelievable place to be honest with you.
"What I thought was really nice is that they had 30 odd pets there. Martha who ran it, and was once herself an orphan there, said they're part of the family so they've got to take them in."
Once the trip was almost over disaster struck. The group ran out of petrol as they were about to begin their return leg.
They were unable to purchase more due to Ukrainian rationing. However, in an act of extraordinary goodwill, Martha and the other volunteers at the orphanage gathered enough fuel to send Michael and his friends home.
Michael said about the trip: "It's one thing putting money in. Its another getting out there and getting your hands dirty.
"My wife and kids thought it was barking mad. I know they thought it was a good thing to do but I don't think they were too happy with us going into a war zone.
"The way I see it is, what if it had happened in the UK and everyone ignored us? Where would we be then?"
