March 2024 Convoy Report

Setting Off

The first rule of Convoy4Ukraine is ‘Don't Drive in Convoy’ so it was fitting that we left from three different locations heading towards our first destination, Dover, where we would catch the ferry to Dunkirk. We left early because this journey could take from between 3 to 5 hours according to Google Maps, and it would be embarrassingly stupid to fail to exit the UK. Happily, we arrived in such good time that we were offered an earlier crossing to Calais. We decided against, as this would have saved us an hour of waiting but added 40 miles to the trip at the other end.

The rules governing what can be taken into Europe have changed post-Brexit, however neither our vehicles nor our carefully prepared packing lists were inspected by cheerful customs officials. The Aid Group’s pre-convoy concerns about the amount of tinned meat allowed for ‘export’ were not tested. The crossing itself was uneventful with calm waters and lukewarm tea. The same could not be said for our Irish colleagues who left at the same time and had to endure a storm during their 28-hour crossing from Roslin to Dunkirk.

Arrival in Dunkirk

After disembarking we faced the longest leg of our journey, heading for our hotel in the Netherlands. As the continent is an hour ahead, this was always going to be a race against nightfall. For safety, our route had been designed to avoid driving in the dark and this was the only leg of our journey where that might have proved challenging. The light was gradually failing as we pulled into our first hotel located in a town near Eindhoven. Some of us had stayed at this hotel before on a previous convoy and, despite the outward appearance of being stylishly expensive, it was reasonably priced with a large car park and handily located near the route. It also ticked the other boxes by providing a decent breakfast, quiet rooms and, of course, towels which meant less to pack and more room for aid.

The second rule of Convoy4Ukraine is ‘Start Together, Travel Apart’. It’s always a risk with elderly vehicles that one of them won't start on a frosty morning, so we like to make sure everyone is checked out of the hotel and in their vehicles warming the engines before setting off at the same time.  However, keeping vehicles together on the road can be stressful, especially if you’re in a foreign country and on the ‘wrong’ side of that road, hence Rule 1. What constitutes a safe speed will differ depending on the driver and their vehicle so we don't insist on staying together during the drive. It is simply safer to allow drivers to go at their own pace provided everybody follows the route and we all reach the same destination – preferably in time for dinner.

Day 2 - Netherlands to Germany

The next day we set off to drive the width of Germany stopping along the way for fuel, toilets and food – the order of these priorities being largely determined by the age and hunger of each driver and the thirstiness of their vehicle.

The third rule of Convoy4Ukraine is ‘Stay in Touch’ and for this, the volunteer in the passenger seat of each vehicle is critical. They were primarily responsible for sharing their location In Google Maps with their colleagues in the other vehicles and keeping an eye on the WhatsApp convoy group chat. It was important to know where each of us was at any given time, mainly because if anyone had broken down we would know the location. Also, there were occasions when, guided by weird glitches in the algorithms, drivers were directed on to slightly different routes by Google Maps, which is less of a problem if everyone can see everyone else.

The German roads were as good as you would expect and the driving was easy with only a few delays during rush hour. The hotel came with a big car park and a small bar which was compensated by the quality of the beer. Dinner at the hotel was extremely good value if you were a meat eater, less good for the non-meat eaters who were not the hotel’s usual clientele.

Day 3 - Germany to Poland

We left our hotel together at 7:30 to cross Poland. If anything, the Polish motorways were better than the German ones, if that were possible. There were a couple of toll roads in Poland which were easy to navigate and cheap. It tended to be the case things cost less the further east we travelled, the only exception to that being diesel, the price varied between petrol stations rather than countries. On Wednesday afternoon we arrived at our hotel which was idiosyncratic – more a sports centre with rooms – complete with an indoor football pitch and a friendly manager. He had been supporting Ukraine and wondered if we could take some aid he had collected. The small Polish restaurant he recommended in town was probably our best meal all convoy and it was a great feeling to know that all of the big drives were now behind us.

Meanwhile our Irish colleagues were just arriving in the German hotel we had left that morning. Although we started at the same time, the overnight ferry meant that we were always one night ahead of them on the same route. Their team was larger and more experienced than our own, for many this was their 5th convoy to Ukraine since March 2022. Their volunteers included mechanics, members of the emergency services and a priest. It was good to know that if anything had gone seriously wrong for us there were some friendly folk to help right behind us.

Day 4 - Rzeszów, Poland

Our extra day in Poland was not wasted. We spent time contacting local groups supporting Ukraine to establish if they had any humanitarian aid that we could deliver for them. As we had been rotating our non-drivers through different vehicles during most of the drive, we now had some spare space to fill. Perhaps we should have planned this better beforehand as our Polish language skills were not good enough to convince them that we were legit. We did find a shop selling Ukrainian produce, run by Ukrainian mums who were living with their children as guests in Poland. Some of the team were able to bring back a few home treats for our UK-based Ukrainian guests. Our visit took longer than expected, the Ukrainian mums were keen to have photos and videos with us for their social media and ours. They helpfully pointed us in the direction of a local supermarket that sold a number of items on our list of humanitarian aid. A few of the team reached into their pockets to buy enough aid to fill our vehicles and return to the hotel.

By this time our friends from Ireland were arriving and we were able to provide them with a welcome beer. They were closely followed by our partners from the Sunflower Network, a US/Ukrainian charitable organisation which links international donors with suitable recipients in Ukraine. Sunflower also fundraise in the US in support of Ukraine and, perhaps more importantly for us, would be crossing the border with us. The evening was spent in a splendid, Polish-owned, Irish-themed restaurant – the entire convoy had now assembled.

Day 5 - Ukraine

Next morning there was a low growl from the diesel engines in the hotel car park as drivers warmed their vehicles and assembled in rough groups. 13 vehicles, including two ambulances from Dublin, then headed to the border. The approach road to the border divided into three lanes for lorries, cars and humanitarian aid, and there we found a group of Polish protesters blocking the road with bollards containing their national flag. When they saw the green crosses and humanitarian logos on our vehicles they quickly moved the bollards and waved us through – sadly the other lanes remained firmly blocked.

Lining up our vehicles in order on the border, we prepared to break the first rule of Convoy4Ukraine…but only in Ukraine. With our friends from the Sunflower Network taking care of the paperwork and liaising with the Polish and Ukrainian border control and customs officers, we crossed without too much trouble. True, one of our vehicles was directed to a lane with a broken barrier and a few people discovered that their mobile phone service did not extend into Ukraine – so close to our goal these were minor annoyance, nothing serious.

Once across the border, the drive to our handover point was completed quickly. We met the Ukrainian drivers who would be taking our vehicles on the next stage of their journey. For obvious reasons elderly men and young women were disproportionately represented amongst them. As each vehicle had been assigned according to the donors’ wishes to different groups and organisations, the drivers had all come from different parts of the country and did not know each other. Although keen to get away in good time to avoid travelling during the curfew, they were equally keen to show their appreciation of our efforts. This meant lunch, photographs, videos and an exchange of gifts. We had brought brightly-coloured guardian angels with messages of support made by the children at the Ukrainian School in Cambridge, who asked us to make sure these were delivered to Ukrainian volunteers.

Afterwards we were taken to the border where we walked across to a waiting coach and were delivered back to our hotel. The next day we arranged taxis to the airport and a flight back home.

After the convoy

Over the next few days, we received many messages online thanking us for our support and for not forgetting Ukraine.

One showed hands holding a guardian angel over the steering wheel, the post read:

“In 2014, when I was 11 years old I drew pictures and postcards for the men, I did not understand how nice it would be to receive them.”