Emsworth aid group Bridge to Unity experience 'eye-opening' scenes as they take aid into Ukraine

Matt Simmons, from Emsworth, travelled into western Ukraine with a team of two fellow volunteers from community interest company Bridge to Unity – veteran Hannah Jarvis and student Liberty Rose – three weeks ago to join volunteers at Polish non-governmental organisation (NGO) Zintegrowana Sluzba Ratownicza (ZSR), in their mission to deliver aid to Ukraine.

They first visited an organisation called Eskulab, which is outside Lviv and provides medical supplies and packs of dried food and energy bars that were being sent to troops on the front line.

‘I walked in and there was this group of women peeling vegetables on these upturned buckets for hours at a time and they looked so happy with what they were doing and they obviously know the benefit that it’s bringing to troops,’ the 42-year-old said.

He said medical supplies were imperative for troops, since Eskulab would ‘often get a call from a unit on the front line who would say that one of our soldiers needs more medicine or medical supplies. That’s where our donations have been going and ZSR have been taking our donations to this organisation and so it was really nice to see the impact our work was having.’

The team also visited a military hospital outside Lviv.

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‘We thought we were only going to the hospital to hand donations over,’ said Mr Simmons. ‘They invited us inside and it just so happened that they had this concert running at the same time for Ukrainian soldiers that were there and it was a really eye-opening experience. There were around 100 people, who were a mix of patients, their families, soldiers and staff.’

He said there was a singer present who sang the winning Eurovision song from Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra, as well as some of Queen’s most popular songs, and that others present also joined in. The ZSR and Bridge to Unity volunteers were invited up to the front while the Ukrainian national anthem was sung and they were thanked for the support they offered to the people of Ukraine.

‘It was so emotional, especially because there were soldiers there who had been injured and many had amputations and lost limbs,’ he said. ‘There was one man whose face was completely scarred, he was in a wheelchair and lost both of his legs and he must have been involved in quite a recent bomb blast. Despite this, when they sang their national anthem, they all put their hands on their hearts and sang with really powerful emotion and pride for their country.’

After spending time in Ukraine, it became apparent that much of the infrastructure had been bombed and getting enough power and electricity was a massive problem.

With winter beckoning, Bridge to Unity hope to continue supporting those who need help in Ukraine through its JustGiving fundraiser. The £12,500 target will be used to fund supplies including small generators, power banks and sleeping bags, as well as a pick-up truck. The team is also set to do a donation drive in Emsworth, to raise much-needed funds.

You can support them here: justgiving.com/crowdfunding/rebecca-adamson-2.