TAVISTOCK Lions Ken Shield and John Dawson have set out today (Thursday) during the early hours as part of a mercy mission to Warsaw to deliver aid to the people of Ukraine.

The pair will be taking a vehicle loaded with items donated by the people of Tavistock and surrounding area and will travel with around nine other vehicles, co-ordinated by Callington based Darren Tait on the five day round trip to the Polish capital.

Tavistock Lions’ Club have received so many donations that some will be stored up for the next trip out in March.

On Monday, club members visited Tavistock Primary School to collect its donations. School council members, made up of pupils from each year, decided to hold a mufti day dressing in blue and yellow, the colours of the Ukrainian flag, to persuade their families to donate items which could be sent out with the Lions to Warsaw for onward transportation to Ukraine.

Headteacher, Laura Handel, said that she was amazed by the amount of items received and that she was especially pleased with the support of the pupils and their families as there are a number of Ukrainian children attending the school.

The last three weeks have been extremely hectic for the club with the packing of donated items going on almost non-stop in the warehouse of Sovereign Wines in Tavistock.

The club is delighted with the support received from owner Mike McGarry who has not only provided the space but has also loaned the club one of his vans for the journey for which TyreMarks of Tavistock have donated a set of winter tyres necessary for their journey across Europe.

The club is also very grateful to the management of Tesco in Tavistock which allowed them to collect donations from customers over six days which yielded 30 trolley loads of nappies, medical supplies and assorted toiletries.

Club president, Paul Blowey thanked the people and companies of Tavistock for their amazing generosity and also his fellow club members which without whom, the whole project would not have been possible. He wished Ken and John a safe and successful journey and said that the club would be looking forward to hearing all about their trip on their return.