Jas Athwal (right), the leader of Redbridge council, is driving supplies donated by Londoners to the Ukraine border
(Picture: Redbridge Council)A London council leader is driving more than three tonnes of supplies to refugees escaping Ukraine at the Polish border.
Jas Athwal, the leader of Redbridge council, is making the 1,600 mile trip with urgently needed coats, blankets, nappies and medical supplies donated by Londoners.
The father-of-four and his friend Harpreet Lakhan decided to make the trip themselves after learning that charities had become overwhelmed with donations and that many of the products would stay in warehouses because there were not enough staff to ship them into Europe.
Mr Athwal is working with a Romanian charity to distribute coats and blankets to people on the Polish border with Ukraine where temperatures are as low as -9C.
He told the Standard: “We’re in the mountains of northern Romania now and it is freezing.
“I can’t imagine what these people who have fled with nothing are going through. We were told that there was a desperate need for coats and medicines.
“When we put out an appeal through the council we were absolutely overwhelmed with donations. But we found out that many pieces just wouldn’t arrive because there aren’t the people to get them to where they are needed.
“We’ve packed the truck with everything we can but there is still a lot left in London. The charities are not getting the support they need.”
Mr Athwal set off from London at 6.30pm on Wednesday and is expected to reach his destination on Friday night.
He added: “We have stayed in hotels on our route, in Romania there were dozens of people who had fled the war. They are traumatised.
“These are wives who have had to say goodbye to their husbands and sons and children to their fathers. Some were even shot at as they tried to escape.
“It is heartbreaking and we just wanted to do anything we can to help.”
