An intrepid member of Tavistock Lions Club has taken the decision to make a third trip to Warsaw, Poland to deliver aid to the people of Ukraine and is once again appealing to the local community for support.

Joining the most recent aid convoy coordinated by the Cornwall and Devon Sending Love to Ukraine group, Ken Shield will this time be accompanied by prospective club member Phil Volz, who has joined some of the previous ten trips in a personal capacity.

The biggest task for the Lions heading to deliver aid is to now to collect more much-needed goods, particularly nappies, baby food and formula milk, any medical equipment that can be used in hospitals such as beds and drip stands and over-the counter medicines, tinned and long life foods and even Easter eggs for children in orphanages and refugee centres. 

The collection points for donations, as with previous appeals, are View Property Agents in Paddons Row, Shields DIY on Vigo Bridge and the Sovereign Wines warehouse on the Plymouth Road Industrial Estate behind Tesco.

Ken said: ‘We already have some donations collected from last time which we couldn’t fit on the van, but we need more aid, specifically for babes that are newborn or up to six months old. Medical aid, transferable equipment such as wheelchairs and medicines like asparin and paracetemol are highly sought too. There was an incubator taken on the convoy before my first trip, they desperately needed one and they got it down there.

‘We have storage and can take things next time if needs be. Peter Harding from Fairway Furniture has lent us a vehicle for our next trip and previously Sovereign Wines for the last two — we are hugely grateful to them.’

The Lions van is due to join six others on the next convoy, which will set off on Monday, April 10. Ken and John Dawson head off on their most recent trip on March 8, taking the ferry from Dover to Calais, travelling through France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, averaging 500-600 miles distance each day in a range of harsh winter weathers, before reaching Warsaw where the convoy’s main humintarian aid contact is based.

This was the tenth trip made by the wider team, lead by Darren Tait of Darren’s Cars in St Ann’s Chapel, on the anniversary of their first trip which was undertaken when the war first broke out.

Ken said: ‘We’re always trying to plan for the future. Aid we’re getting plenty of from the public, it keeps coming in but it’s money we’re short of. If any businesses, companies or individuals could help sponsor us with fuel or cash donations or could lend large transit-sized vehicles for a week for future trips these would be gratefully accepted.

‘We will always go as and when we can and are happy to do our bit; people are still being bombed and they still need aid. Members of the community who keep donting say we’re doing a good job but it’s them who are just as important as us and that’s a message to get out there — they’re the ones making this happen.’

For further details, contact the Tavistock Lions Club on 03458334807.