Is there no way of speeding things up?

“Is there no way of speeding things up? Children are dying from lack of food” - Pastor in Kharkiv, Eastern Ukraine.  ‍

Two weeks ago I got passed the this message by friend and former colleague Arno Kitts (founder of Perspective Investments) together with a polite enquiry as to whether I would be interested in helping. He and the wonderful Tracy Blackwell (CEO Pension Insurance Corporation) had supported an initial food aid mission in March run by an experienced provider of humanitarian aid that delivered food and supplies to Kharkiv in Eastern Ukraine.

There was also a need in Kharkiv for a reliable minibus for transporting food and supplies to the families sheltering in basements and underground tunnels - "Reliable” being important for when they come under fire.

For whatever reason sufficient international aid was not getting though to Kharkiv, at least not to the starving children being looked after by this Pastor, who is trying to feed 1,500 people altogether.  It was clear that another urgent mission to get food to Kharkiv was needed, so we could respond to the Pastor's plea for help. We knew that the supply chain worked because it had been used two weeks previously by the same team and we had footage and stills showing the supplies sent being distributed.

When lending support to a cause you can donate your money, your time, your expertise or your contacts - this situation allowed me to donate all of these.  With Tracy and Arno organising funding, our experienced aid worker sorting out strategy and diplomacy, I set about organising the logistics for the mission, which was very similar in nature to managing a transaction i.e. it involved bringing together and coordinating a group of people who haven't worked together before to deliver a very well defined objective against a set timetable.

We pulled together a team of 9 volunteer 4x4 cars and trucks and box trailers to take the requested food, medical supplies and other essential items to the Polish Border with Ukraine. Part of this was collected as donations and purchases here in the UK and part was purchased in Poland. We delivered 25 tons of aid altogether, potentially enough to feed c1,000 people for 25-30 days. This was passed on to Ukrainians organised through a network of churches to get to Kharkiv (another 1200km). The Pastors were also given the means to buy a minibus in Western Ukraine to take it East.

The team want to do more and are already looking at sourcing and supplying water filters (a small handheld water filter can turn 100,000 gallons of dirty water into drinking water) and mobile power banks.

Most of us want to feel we can do something to help, but it can be difficult to work out how, other than by donating.  I was fortunate enough to be presented with this opportunity to contribute more than just funds and be part of a team that enabled food to be delivered to people in Ukraine who were not getting enough from other sources. We were also lucky to have the support and generosity of so many of my former colleagues and the parents and staff at Reading School, a Reading based Sikh Temple (Ramgarhia Sabha Reading)and a Church in County Durham for donating so much food and supplies.

If you are interested in helping please get in contact with the team.

David Collinson