Volunteers reach Ukraine with school donations

Gary Dooley (left) and Tim Bamford (right) were among the volunteers taking part in the Yorkshire Aid Convoy's eighth mission to Ukraine

Volunteers carrying vital supplies for Ukrainian schoolchildren, which were donated from across Yorkshire, have successfully reached the war-torn country.

The Leeds-based Yorkshire Aid Convoy completed a three-day journey from Wetherby to Ukraine on Sunday.

The charity has donated 2,000 computers for use in schools, many of which have been destroyed since Russia invaded in 2022.

The organisation announced on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday that its volunteers had "arrived safe and sound" at their destination, with the help of an escort team.

Gary Dooley, trustee of the Yorkshire Aid Convoy told BBC Radio Leeds said it was the charity's eighth visit to the country.

Speaking at Bowcliffe Hall near Wetherby shortly before leaving on Thursday, Mr Dooley said: "When the war started in Ukraine, we got contacted by lots of companies that wanted to donate things.

"Two weeks after the start of the war we were there with the first trucks. I think we've taken about 60-odd trucks into Ukraine.

"Around 4,000 schools have been destroyed due to the war. For two years, a lot of kids haven't been able to have a proper education, so hopefully we're providing something to get that restarted."

2,000 computers have been donated by business and individuals across Yorkshire, to be used by besieged Ukrainian schools

Besides computers, the group is also carrying medical supplies, toys, clothes and sweets to orphanages in Ukraine.

Tim Bamford, the Yorkshire Aid Convoy's transport manager, said the visits were "emotional".

"There are grown men who sneak off to a corner and their eyes leak a bit when we go," he said.

"You see the kids come out looking quite down and lost. They're in an orphanage where they don't know anyone and they've got no parents or extended family, it's terrible.

"But you just have a bit of interaction with them and if you play football with them like we did last year, you see the child within them come back out again."

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