Sutton Coldfield foursome travel 2,600 miles in mercy mission

An intrepid group of Sutton Coldfield men have braved the Ukraine warzone to deliver humanitarian aid to refugees fleeing the conflict.

The four, two firefighters and their builder friends made the marathon 2,600 mile round trip to Poland to deliver the much-needed supplies after being moved by the human tragedy unfoldling after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The four friends from Sutton Coldfield collected and delivered aid to Ukrainian refugees fleeing their country’s war with Russia. West Midlands firefighters Steven Nott and James Allsop joined Alex Willis and Chris Hanley for the trip across Europe and into Poland at Medyka on March 7.

The group and their partners posted on Facebook, with a huge collection made via the Walmley Residents Association Facebook page. They were also provided with supplies from Walsall children’s charity – Help To Make Tummies Full.

In four to five days as well as supplies, the group raised just over £4,500 and supplies including clothes, baby clothes, water, first aid kits, sanitary wear, baby food, cat and dog food, teddy bears, even a box of crayons.

They loaded up a pick-up truck and a trailer, donated for a week by a Lichfield company, full of supplies and drove from Sutton on Monday night at around 7pm via the Eurotunnel, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany to Poland. They stopped off in the southern city of Krakow on Tuesday.

The group were there for six hours and took 36 hours to drive home without stopping anywhere overnight, arriving in Sutton at 3pm on Thursday.

Alex said he and his friends plan to return to Poland with money they have raised and get more supplies to the refugees. He said they will fly to the country this time, hire a van and buy supplies locally. Once they have done that they will take a look at what else they can do.