A local community councillor who recently travelled to Poland delivering medical aid to refugees from Ukraine, returned this weekend with the leader of Monmouthshire Council to deliver further medical aid.

On the weekend of March 5, Llanfoist Fawr Councillor and former army veteran Hannah Jarvis travelled to the Polish-Ukrainian border alongside members of the charity Bridge to Unity delivering medical equipment including defibrillators and trauma kits to not-for-profit organisation ZSR in Poland.

Bridge to Unity UK was born from the success of Ems4Afghans, a community group set up by RAF Veteran Matt Simmons in response to the 2021 refugee crisis in Afghanistan, whilst ZSR are a group of volunteer medics who have been providing emergency support to those crossing the border from Ukraine following Russia’s invasion of the country a month ago.

Following her successful original visit, Hannah duly returned to Poland on the weekend to deliver further medical aid and was accompanied on her journey by Monmouthshire County Council Leader Richard John, who contacted Hannah to kindly offer his services to help with any delivery.

Through further communication with Bridge to Unity and ZSR in Poland, it was agreed that Richard would assist Hannah with the pair driving to the Polish capital Krakow where they would meet ZSR members who would take the medical aid back to their base on the Polish-Ukrainian border.

Setting off on their long journey in the early hours of the morning on Friday March 25, Hannah and Richard shared driving duties as they made their way to Krakow where they arrived on Saturday to drop off aid to ZSR members.

On the journey there, they saw other humanitarian trips as they travelled along autobahn 4 through southern Germany including a convoy from Lille.

“We reached the outskirts of Krakow early afternoon on Saturday and transferred much of the medical equipment and supplies we had carried to a team who planned to take it to Lviv in Ukraine”, Cllr Richard John said.

“It would not have been safe for us to make this journey ourselves, so local charity workers who speak the language will be doing that.”

Medical aid
MCC leader Cllr Richard John also joined the mercy mission (Pic from Hannah Jarvis)

Speaking about the journey and his reasons for going, Richard added: “In Monmouthshire I’ve been really proud of the generosity of local residents in fundraising, but also offering accommodation for Ukrainian families.

“We all have a moral duty to do everything we possibly can to help I felt this journey was something I could do personally to help in some small way.

“It was a tiring journey, but nothing compared to the sacrifices and bravery of so many charity volunteers on the ground in Ukraine, supporting families who are being forced to leave everything behind.

“It was an extraordinary journey and one that brought home to me just how geographically close to us this conflict is.”

Equipment and aid delivered was purchased thanks in part to a fundraising page set up by Hannah to assist Bridge to Unity in delivering the vital resources needed by charities on the ground in Poland and Ukraine.

A month after being launched, the fundraising page has so far raised over £38,000 from around 750 donations.

Having managed to successfully purchase an ambulance for ZSR through the generous donations, members of Bridge to Unity flew across to Krakow on the weekend meeting Hannah and Richard before picking up the ambulance and delivering it to ZSR members who would take it back to the Polish-Ukrainian border.

Ambulance
The ambulance that was delivered to ZSR thanks to fundraising (Pic: Hannah Jarvis)

Speaking to the Chronicle on her return from Poland, Hannah said: “Following on from our first trip to the border three weeks ago, we knew exactly what medical aid was needed and where it needed to go.

“In addition to delivering state of the art monitors, syringe drivers and military trauma packs, which will be split between Poland and Ukraine, we also handed over a new ambulance to ZSR, purchased with generous crowdfunding donations, which will not only assist ZSR with their medical work in Ukraine, but also in future humanitarian crises.

“I’d like to once again thank the public for their generous donations, however, our work in Ukraine is far from over and we are still fundraising and targeting our help to where it’s needed most.”

If you would like to continue supporting Hannah and Bridge to Unity in their efforts to help the people of Ukraine please visit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/matt-simmons-1