Team near Worksop travel 4,600 miles in two weekends transporting donations to Poland for Ukraine

Ian and Jackie Franklin, of The Old Post Office, Carlton-in-Lindrick, are once again putting their van into action on April 22 as they head to Poland for the third time.

Just under five tons of donations were transported to Poland for Ukrainians fleeing from war during two trips last month.

And during their latest trip next week the group will be visiting a new orphanage set up for Ukrainian children.

Ian said: “We've been absolutely overwhelmed with the generosity of the people of Carlton and the surrounding areas.

“It's been tiring, but it's inspiring, and we're very blessed to have the opportunity to do it.

“We actually drove 4,600 miles in the space of two weekends.”

The idea first came to Ian after he visited a friend in Hull who had recently set up ‘Hull 4 Ukraine’, and within an hour of telling his wife the idea, the pair had donations begin to turn up at their door.

Working with Hull 4 Ukraine, on March 18, Ian and co-driver Ray Roberts were given a contact to reach in Krakow where their donations were distributed in and around the area.

On their return to Carlton-in-Lindrick, Ian found his bedroom, house and local pub, Grey Horses Inn, was full of donations ready for another trip the following weekend.

This time, Ian, Ray and Jackie were redirected by a new contact to a small town within Swidnica, in south-western Poland, to the orphanage.

Ian said: “We were absolutely amazed by what they were doing.

“It was a young offenders place which had been converted, and there were flowers and teddies everywhere to try and make the children feel welcome.

“I think at the time we were there they only had 40 children, but they were expecting to have 65 by the Wednesday.”

For their next trip to the orphanage, the group have had specific requests from the local priest in Swidnica, Father Pawel Traczykowski, including nappies, house cleaning products, personal hygiene products, school supplies and food.

Ian added: “It's been a real team effort, and just the generosity of everybody has been outstanding.”

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