Vans Without Borders Summer Mission

by Jack Ross in Ukraine

Total raised £7,667

raised so far

108

supporters

To raise funds to deliver life saving aid to communities in need across Ukraine.

by Jack Ross in Ukraine

Since our launch in March 2022, Vans Without Borders has delivered hundreds of tonnes of humanitarian aid to those in need across Ukraine. We specialise in supporting communities directly under bombardment from the Russian forces, with a focus on assisting families with children, the elderly, and people with disabilities.

This summer, we will return to Ukraine to continue our mission of providing assistance to Ukrainians in deprived areas whose lives have been drastically altered and threatened by ongoing Russian aggression. Our plan is to visit and support a range of organisations, such as hospitals and orphanages, and individuals across Ukraine, doing everything in our power to save Ukrainian lives. Thanks to our extensive work, we are among the few foreign organisations trusted with access to support vulnerable children, especially those with intellectual disabilities, residing in hazardous areas in the East and South of the country.

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Additionally, we are one of the few organisations still conducting food drops in frontline villages in Ukraine. While large international charities and NGOs hesitate to allow their volunteers to deliver aid to these areas due to safety concerns, the people living in these villages, often unable to leave due to age or impoverished circumstances, still require support.

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While our work is vital, it comes with significant costs. Excluding Russia, Ukraine is the largest country in Europe, leading to substantial expenses in transporting aid to remote regions. Moreover, the roads in Ukraine were already challenging before the war, and the increased war damage has made them even more treacherous, resembling the surface of the moon. As a result, our vehicles require constant repairs, including new tires, rims, and ball joints. Despite our team consisting of professional drivers, such as former ambulance and truck drivers, their expertise is still challenged by the conditions of Ukrainian roads.

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We typically operate within a budget ranging from £500 to £1000 for various communities. This budget ensures the provision of essential food and supplies, such as tinned food, wet wipes (essential for communities without running water), bread, and pasta/noodles, catering to between 40 to 100 individuals. With increased funding, we can expand our reach, providing more assistance to each person or extending our support to more communities in need. 

We deliberately purchase our food aid from local Ukrainian stores in an effort to assist with the rebuilding of the local economy.

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Every penny we raise is directly invested in aiding Ukrainians to survive this war.

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Our efforts have reached numerous regions across Ukraine, including Kharkiv, the Donbas, Kherson, Kryvyi Rih, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Kyiv, Poltava, Sumy, Lviv, Chernigov, Uzhhorod, Volyn, and Zhytomyr.

The impactful work of Vans Without Borders has garnered widespread recognition, with features in prominent media outlets such as the BBC, the Telegraph, the Daily Express, GB News, CNN, The Sun, Yahoo News, the Daily Star, and various local newspapers.

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