Below is a list of current appeals.
Our appeals change as the situation changes in Ukraine. The constant need is for pick-up trucks.
If you are from Ukraine or work with people in Ukraine and need help please contact us.
We need volunteers and equipment; not just money! Please contact at vehicles4ukraine@thecarmen.co.uk
Power 4 Ukraine
Ukraine needs power.
Russia is attacking Ukrainian infrastructure, in particular targeting electricity distribution stations in the hope of leaving the people without heating in the coming winter. Parts of Ukraine only have power for 4 hours a day…
We are buying power packs which can be charged by solar energy or by being plugged into existing supplies when available. These range in cost from £150.00 (for a small domestic unit) to £2,500 (for commercial uses – with greater capacity). Traditional petrol and diesel powered generators are also being supplied.
If you have an working generator or power pack you would like to donate we would LOVE to take it from you and we will see that it gets to a worthy recipient in Ukraine.
Want to make a donation? Please click here
Supplying Hospitals
Russia continues to attack hospitals
As a result, makeshift hospitals are being set up in public buildings such as community centres, town halls, etc. Finding a building is one thing, but the need to equip these new hospitals is another. We have already collected a vast amount of suitable supplies including beds and bedside furniture, monitoring equipment, specialist tables, medical fridges, office furniture and more, for transport to where it’s needed. Volunteers kindly provide the necessary lorries and trailers which are then driven by more volunteers to the Ukraine border. For each trip, the cost of fuel, tolls, and accommodation amounts to some £3,500.
If you can help with money to meet the transport cost or have items that would be useful to these hospitals, please do get in touch. If you want to give money then you can use this link. Gift aid will apply.
Want to make a donation? Please click here
Vehicles 4 Ukraine
We’re often asked:
• Why are we sending vehicles from the UK when there are vehicles available closer to Ukraine?
• What sort of vehicles are needed?
• What are they used for?
Well, hopefully the following covers those queries: Most countries in Europe ARE sending vehicles anyway. If you know of suitable ones on our route we might be able to add them to our deliveries? The demand for vehicles is spiralling in line with the attacks on Ukraine. For example, the more injured there are, the more that ambulances are needed. And those “ambulances” (in many cases bearing no resemblance to our shiny specialist ones in the UK) have to travel to a variety of locations because hospitals are out of action. Linked to that an increasing number of satellite medical units needs vans and minibuses to move supplies and people between them. Cars are also needed – to transport doctors to where they are needed. Very sadly hearses are also in huge demand (which seems a very cold word to use in this situation) to give victims a dignified ride for their last few miles.
The vehicle type in highest demand is, by far, the 4×4 pick-up truck. Some roads are in such a bad condition (you think our potholes are bad!) that only a 4×4 can be used. Pick-ups are the most versatile as they can be used for carrying goods or injured people, etc, and as emergency services vehicles after air strikes. Good old English right-hand drive vehicles are most sought after – not for the registration plate, but the practical advantage that Russian snipers tend to shoot at the left hand side thinking they will disable the vehicle by eliminating the driver.
Old vehicles are ideal, as Ukraine needs maximum volume not those with the latest “gizmos” on board. They would rather have two old vehicles than one newer one. Mostly they are mechanically reliable and when they fail it’s not an engine or gearbox that’s gone, it’s due to a bullet or rocket fired by the Russians.
All the vehicles we buy are serviced and repaired before they leave the UK. They have to be in serviceable condition to be fair to our volunteer drivers who cross Europe in them (when they’re not taken on the back of a lorry) as well as for use in Ukraine. The cosmetic condition is not important, it just has to be mechanically sound – or capable of being made so at reasonable cost.
The average cost to buy and repair a 4×4 pickup is £5,000, with another £500+ being spent to get it to Ukraine.
Want to make a donation? Please click here