Friends who took aid to Ukraine plan a second trip

Two friends have returned to the west after delivering medical supplies to Ukraine in a second-hand ambulance.

Stephen Ryder, 69, from Westbury in Wiltshire, and Winkie Fry, from Bruton in Somerset, drove from Dover to Lviv with the Mighty Convoy charity.

Ryder told BBC Radio Wiltshire people in Lviv met them with "warmth and stoicism" and said he is now planning the next aid mission.

He added: "You can stand around and wring your hands - or you can do something about it."

The journey to Ukraine took 33 hours and involved them travelling through France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland.

Mighty Convoy is a volunteer-run UK charity that delivers second-hand ambulances packed with medical supplies to Ukraine.

It has donated 78 ambulances and 4x4 vehicles, which are used to transport wounded soldiers away from the front line.

During the trip, Ryder and Fry met a young man called Oleksander who was treated with supplies provided by the pair.

"He [Oleksander] was part of the special forces and had a great big wound formed by shrapnel in his back," Ryder said. "If it hadn't been for the medication we provided... he would not be here."

Ryder also took letters from pupils at Westbury Leigh Primary School, where he is a volunteer, to give to schools in Ukraine.

The pair also visited the military cemetery in Lviv.

Ryder said: "The students used to have picnics there in the summer and now it's full of their graves."

Now back in the UK, Ryder said he is fundraising towards his second trip.

Volunteers need to raise £7,000 for every ambulance or vehicle they drive to Ukraine.

Ryder added: "They need things out there which we can provide. Like 4x4s, tyres, ambulances and medical supplies."

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