A mobile dental surgery will be driven from Perthshire to Ukraine to treat soldiers on the frontline after being bought for £8000 at auction.
Tayside and Strathearn Help for Ukraine (T&SH4UKRAINE), based at Errol Airfield, bid for the unit which was previously used by NHS Tayside.
Volunteers from the charity - which was set-up hard on the heels of the Russian invasion last year and has already dispatched more than 50 lorry loads of aid - are set to drive the fully kitted-out medical unit over 1200 miles to the war zone.
They are appealing for help to meet the cost of the journey and hope that by the end of the month, the unit will be used to treat soldiers and civilians caught up in the horror of Putin’s assault.
Perth businessman Kenny Simpson, principal co-ordinator with T&SH4UKRAINE said: “We had got in touch with our contacts in Ukraine to see if it would be something they could make use of.
“The answer came back within the hour. They were biting our hand off.
“It will shortly be heading for the frontline, to be used by military personnel and any civilians who haven’t fled from the Russian assault.
“The unit may be 20 years old, but it is in excellent condition.
“A dental engineer inspected it, did a little bit of re-wiring and assured us everything was in perfect working order.
“We were only lacking X-ray and sterilising machines. Since the acquisition, a sterilising unit has been generously donated by industry supplier Henry Schein Dental.
“Perth Auto Centre have serviced the vehicle free of charge, checked it over and confirmed the HGV MOT is still valid. It has only clocked up 17,000 miles.
“We also put out a plea for various items like PPE gowns, masks, gloves and visors, drill heads and other items. That has proved very successful and now Broxden Dental Centre in Perth and Wrights Dental in Dundee are also helping us out.
“We are good to go and the ferry from Newcastle to Rotterdam has been booked for July 12.
“I’ll be driving the 1200-plus miles to the Polish border for the handover to our Ukrainian contacts along with fellow committee member Lindsay Brown.
“We are still fundraising to cover the £700 ferry fare and the fuel for the journey.”
Big-hearted volunteers have been amazed at the generosity of Scots who have rallied to the Ukrainian cause since the Russian invasion began.
“The 55th lorry load headed out from our Errol Airfield base on Friday and the total aid contributed by our supporters across Scotland has to be in the region of £2 million,” said Mr Simpson.
But with the conflict showing no sign of abating he has appealed for the humanitarian backing to continue.
He said: “The response has been incredible since a group of us got together within days of Putin’s invasion, with the aim of providing much-needed food, clothing and toiletries to refugees fleeing the horrors which we have seen inflicted on an independent country.
“It’s incredible to think we have sent more than 50 lorry loads to support families whose lives have been turned upside down by a savage conflict here in Europe.
“Rotary and Probus clubs and other groups have been incredibly generous in recent times, making donations towards the cost of fuel and the hire of lorries.
“Tragically, there is no sign of the conflict ending so it is more important than ever that we continue to show our support for Ukraine and her people as they suffer unimaginable horrors.”
The Errol Airfield warehouse provided by T&SH4UKRAINE committee member Morris Leslie has become the focal point for donations from far beyond Perthshire.
“We are regularly receiving donations from Aberdeen, Inverness and the Central Belt. We have even received loads from Sheffield and Sedbergh,” said Mr Simpson.
“We can’t ease up now. As ever, the demand is high for clothing, medicines and toiletries.
“But recent loads have also included tons of potatoes, fire extinguishers and dozens of teddy bears for orphanages, along with wheelchairs and zimmers for victims of the war. We have had requests for more sleeping bags.
“We have dispatched hundreds of baby boxes and have also distributed 400 welcome boxes to refugees of all ages who have made their way to Scotland.”
The group has loaded more than 1500 pallets and countless boxes bound for the Folkowski Foundation base in the Polish town of Kosciuski, just 15 minutes from the border with Ukraine.
“Several of us travelled in June last year to meet members of the Foundation. We have seen for ourselves the tremendous work they’re doing in ferrying the aid from Scotland to communities over the border, including towns and cities on the frontline,” said Mr Simpson.
“In the Ukrainian city of Lviv, we saw damage caused by random shelling and 80 refugees crammed into an old school, with access to just one toilet and wash hand basin.
“It’s brave people like this that T&SH4UKRAINE continues to support, thanks to the magnificent response in terms of donations and assistance we have received from ordinary folks and businesses across Tayside and far beyond.”
