The Tavistock Lions have returned from their recent trip to Warsaw to deliver aid to the people of Ukraine and are already gearing up for another in March.

They started a fresh appeal for donations to be given to the Ukraine in the middle of January, with Lions Ken Shield and John Dawson joining the Cornwall and Devon Sending Love to Ukraine group, which was spearheaded by Darren Tait of Darren’s Cars in St Ann’s Chapel and later boosted by the Lions in Callington and then other Lions across both counties.

John said: ‘We received money through bucket donations and many donations of food, toiletries and energy resources in the weeks running up to February 2 when we set off. Our intention was to raise enough money to make one trip and review the way forward after that but we were very successful thanks to the community’s generosity, having raised enough funding to cover two trips.’

The Tavistock Lions took one van full of various donations, which joined the convoy of nine other vans heading to Warsaw in Poland. The convoy took the ferry from Dover to Calais, travelling through France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, averaging 500-600 miles distance each day in a range of weathers.

John said: ‘Full on is how I would describe it, there really was no downtime, all of us were dropping bags, getting food, sleeping, and nearly always on the road. The main day, the Saturday, was when everything really hit home for us. People were so grateful and giving us hugs — it was quite something getting a hug from a soldier.’

The convoy brought back seven refugees, a dog and a cat, all of whom have now settled in new homes around the UK. Ken and John will be joining the next convoy leaving on March 8 — the tenth trip made by the wider team committed to delivering aid, on the anniversary of their first trip, undertaken when the war first broke out.

Ken said: ‘We had a Lions meeting on Monday to plan our next steps forward. Whilst we have donations left over from our most recent appeal, we still have about two thirds of the van to fill.

‘We have to ask those who have been supporting us if they will again and this is not something we take for granted, we’re still so grateful for everything we delivered on this trip. So far everything we’ve received has been sent on to the Ukraine.

‘If we take a further trip in April or further ahead we may need to find another van which someone can lend us and it doesn’t need to be a huge transit.

‘Darren and everyone else involved are so passionate, their efforts are infectious and have rubbed off on us.

‘We want to carry on helping no matter what.’