From Gloucester to Poland: A herculean effort to deliver aid to Ukrainian refugees.

It started at the beginning of March 2022, two friends decided to help the emerging refugee crisis by sending a van of much needed humanitarian aid to the Polish-Ukrainian border.  It rapidly turned into a mammoth ‘pop-up’ distribution centre in Gloucester, with warehousing and distribution donated by Paul Lusty at WMB Logistics, transport by BH Cecil & Sons and Oak International Freight LTD, and financial support from Equilaw Ltd and Thomas Legal Group.

The operation grew from a core team of half a dozen individuals to more than 70 volunteers, many of whom have worked long hours to rapidly sort and process of the all the donations kindly given by local organisations, businesses and individuals. In one month seven 44 tonne lorries left the warehouse packed to the rafters with vital humanitarian aid, with five trucks heading to Gdańsk, one to the Polish border with Ukraine, and one directly to Lviv Ukraine, where the supplies were desperately needed by those fleeing the war in Ukraine.

BH Cecil & Sons became ‘hero hauliers’ by stepping into the breach at short notice. The family-run international transportation business which is based in Blakeney Gloucestershire, responded quickly by donating a transporter to deliver the humanitarian aid and pledged another two…this actually turned out to be five in total from them. Paul Cecil from BH Cecil & Sons drove one of the first transporters to leave the site. He said: ‘People passing the lorry beep their horns and give me the thumbs up. It makes me feel proud for what we are doing but, on the other hand, very sad that so many people have lost everything. It’s a very emotional journey that gives you mixed feelings.

Vivian Blick, volunteer-turned-spokesman for the group which is now called ‘’Gloucester Ukrainian Aid’’, said: ‘We are making sure that the much-needed aid is getting to the right place. It’s making an immediate difference.’ Pawel from Fundacja Foundation: ‘’Your trucks came just in the nick of time, when the number of people visiting the tent suddenly grew five times. Scenes when food unloaded from the truck was IMMEDIATELY distributed among waiting people will stay with me forever.’’ Vivian continued: ‘We are overwhelmed by the generosity from the people of Gloucestershire – it’s humbling and gives you faith in humanity. It’s truly amazing what can be done when people pull together. While I wish I could namecheck everyone, I couldn’t for fear of missing anyone out. This really has been a countywide effort. Each day has been an emotional rollercoaster of “tears and cheers”. Even crews from Gloucestershire Fire & Rescue Services and Gloucestershire Constabulary volunteered.

From Gloucester to Poland: A herculean effort to deliver aid to Ukrainian refugees.

It started at the beginning of March 2022, two friends decided to help the emerging refugee crisis by sending a van of much needed humanitarian aid to the Polish-Ukrainian border.  It rapidly turned into a mammoth ‘pop-up’ distribution centre in Gloucester, with warehousing and distribution donated by Paul Lusty at WMB Logistics, transport by BH Cecil & Sons and Oak International Freight LTD, and financial support from Equilaw Ltd and Thomas Legal Group.

The operation grew from a core team of half a dozen individuals to more than 70 volunteers, many of whom have worked long hours to rapidly sort and process of the all the donations kindly given by local organisations, businesses and individuals. In one month seven 44 tonne lorries left the warehouse packed to the rafters with vital humanitarian aid, with five trucks heading to Gdańsk, one to the Polish border with Ukraine, and one directly to Lviv Ukraine, where the supplies were desperately needed by those fleeing the war in Ukraine.

BH Cecil & Sons became ‘hero hauliers’ by stepping into the breach at short notice. The family-run international transportation business which is based in Blakeney Gloucestershire, responded quickly by donating a transporter to deliver the humanitarian aid and pledged another two…this actually turned out to be five in total from them. Paul Cecil from BH Cecil & Sons drove one of the first transporters to leave the site. He said: ‘People passing the lorry beep their horns and give me the thumbs up. It makes me feel proud for what we are doing but, on the other hand, very sad that so many people have lost everything. It’s a very emotional journey that gives you mixed feelings.

Vivian Blick, volunteer-turned-spokesman for the group which is now called ‘’Gloucester Ukrainian Aid’’, said: ‘We are making sure that the much-needed aid is getting to the right place. It’s making an immediate difference.’ Pawel from Fundacja Foundation: ‘’Your trucks came just in the nick of time, when the number of people visiting the tent suddenly grew five times. Scenes when food unloaded from the truck was IMMEDIATELY distributed among waiting people will stay with me forever.’’ Vivian continued: ‘We are overwhelmed by the generosity from the people of Gloucestershire – it’s humbling and gives you faith in humanity. It’s truly amazing what can be done when people pull together. While I wish I could namecheck everyone, I couldn’t for fear of missing anyone out. This really has been a countywide effort. Each day has been an emotional rollercoaster of “tears and cheers”. Even crews from Gloucestershire Fire & Rescue Services and Gloucestershire Constabulary volunteered.

From Gloucester to Poland: A herculean effort to deliver aid to Ukrainian refugees.

It started at the beginning of March 2022, two friends decided to help the emerging refugee crisis by sending a van of much needed humanitarian aid to the Polish-Ukrainian border.  It rapidly turned into a mammoth ‘pop-up’ distribution centre in Gloucester, with warehousing and distribution donated by Paul Lusty at WMB Logistics, transport by BH Cecil & Sons and Oak International Freight LTD, and financial support from Equilaw Ltd and Thomas Legal Group.

The operation grew from a core team of half a dozen individuals to more than 70 volunteers, many of whom have worked long hours to rapidly sort and process of the all the donations kindly given by local organisations, businesses and individuals. In one month seven 44 tonne lorries left the warehouse packed to the rafters with vital humanitarian aid, with five trucks heading to Gdańsk, one to the Polish border with Ukraine, and one directly to Lviv Ukraine, where the supplies were desperately needed by those fleeing the war in Ukraine.

BH Cecil & Sons became ‘hero hauliers’ by stepping into the breach at short notice. The family-run international transportation business which is based in Blakeney Gloucestershire, responded quickly by donating a transporter to deliver the humanitarian aid and pledged another two…this actually turned out to be five in total from them. Paul Cecil from BH Cecil & Sons drove one of the first transporters to leave the site. He said: ‘People passing the lorry beep their horns and give me the thumbs up. It makes me feel proud for what we are doing but, on the other hand, very sad that so many people have lost everything. It’s a very emotional journey that gives you mixed feelings.

Vivian Blick, volunteer-turned-spokesman for the group which is now called ‘’Gloucester Ukrainian Aid’’, said: ‘We are making sure that the much-needed aid is getting to the right place. It’s making an immediate difference.’ Pawel from Fundacja Foundation: ‘’Your trucks came just in the nick of time, when the number of people visiting the tent suddenly grew five times. Scenes when food unloaded from the truck was IMMEDIATELY distributed among waiting people will stay with me forever.’’ Vivian continued: ‘We are overwhelmed by the generosity from the people of Gloucestershire – it’s humbling and gives you faith in humanity. It’s truly amazing what can be done when people pull together. While I wish I could namecheck everyone, I couldn’t for fear of missing anyone out. This really has been a countywide effort. Each day has been an emotional rollercoaster of “tears and cheers”. Even crews from Gloucestershire Fire & Rescue Services and Gloucestershire Constabulary volunteered.