A JOURNEY to deliver humanitarian aid to Macedonia last month was deemed a ?great success? by its organisers from a Bere Alston charity. Members of ?Running on Wheels? ? a charity for Humanitarian Aid ? returned on October 28 after a two-week trip, delivering emergency supplies and vehicles. The charity was set up 14 years ago by Bere Alston resident Trevor Paddon-Hall and every year the charity has delivered aid to villages and towns all over eastern Europe. The team who went to Macedonia consisted: Trevor, organiser of the trip; Harry Davies, member of the charity; Tavistock College student Emma Kingwell and Plymouth College student Ellie Studden. Cornwall Fire Service had donated a fire engine which the team delivered to Resen Municipality, near Ohrid in Macedonia, with the help of funds from the Supreme Military Order of the Knights Templar of Jerusalem. The fire engine arrived to go into service without delay and within hours it was fighting fires from the extremely hot weather ? temperatures in excess of 45 degrees. The first two weeks saw the fire engine attend more than 60 fires and save many lives. The members also delivered an emergency ambulance to Skopje, along with many items of medical equipment. One of the highlights for Ellie was witnessing the donation of special needs wheelchairs ? given by Woodlands Special Needs School in Plymouth ? to St George?s Rehabilitation Centre in Ohrid. Emma found her highlight was visiting the Roma children in their makeshift homes and delivering food parcels and clothes for them. Members spent their evenings with the Jesuits in Macedonia, helping to teach English to the young and the old in Ohrid. The last task for the team was to deliver a cooker, utensils, plates and food for a new soup kitchen, opening in Veles, in south east Macedonia. Trevor said: ?We were able to open the new soup kitchen within a couple of days. This will serve some 200 poor people and will be staffed by the Orthodox Church of Macedonia. This is a very beautiful country that has a wealth of history dating back to 500 years BC and is apparent from the moment you arrive. ?We were so fortunate in our spare time to see Roman excavations and churches dating back to 400 AD. The people are kind and welcoming.? ?Running on Wheels? expressed thanks to Peter Tavy Methodist Church for its financial support to enable the charity to take a lorry of food, blankets, clothes and sewing machines. He also expressed thanks to Roborough Rotary Club, who donated the cooker and utensils, and for the food from Holy Trinity and St Andrew?s Church in the Bere Peninsula. The charity has now started a collection for dried foods to take out to the people in the soup kitchens in Macedonia. Anyone willing to collect for the charity please call Trevor on 01822 840091.
