Gosport woman served thousands of pizzas to Ukrainians whilst volunteering with Siobhan's Trust - and survived a missile attack

Paula Reid, who is known for being an adventurer and has completed a 1,000km ski from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole, decided that she wanted to help the people of Ukraine who are still in their home country which has seen devastation.

The 55-year-old from Alverstoke found Siobhan’s Trust and wanted to get involved in the dangerous work they have been doing to ensure that people in some of the worst places in the country have food.

Paula travelled to Ukraine on March 17, 2023 and stayed out there for three weeks where she spent her time cooking and serving pizzas for those in need.

She said: ‘I have been based out of two places, Kyiv and Kharkiv, both have been attacked and there is so much devastation. In Kharkiv they are still attacking and there are air raid sirens going off two or three times a night.

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‘There were nine missiles that were in Kharkiv and the air raid sirens started – we were staying in a hotel and the air raid siren went off and then we definitely heard some very loud bangs. I didn’t know how I would react but I surprised myself by staying quite calm. It is obviously worrying and we made our way down into the basement of the hotel which was a kind of bomb shelter.

‘I remember thinking I must go to the toilet and also put my boots on. What a way to go if I got bombed while I’m putting my boots on and sitting on the toilet.’

Siobhan’s Trust has been offering food and support to huge numbers of traumatised Ukrainians who have been affected by the Russian invasion, and they can feed up to 4,000 people a day from six mobile kitchens.

Paula cooked thousands of pizzas in her time in Ukraine and she is already hoping to be able to go back out there to help as many people as possible.