UK to East Europe

MotoExplorer UK / Drive Aid – Voluntary work with non-profits and fabulous volunteers who are so generous of their time and desire to help people at a time of need, NGO’s as well as my own drive assists where resources permit.

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Please look up Drivingaidtoukraine if you are interested to see their work and potentially help in anyway, there is an especially constant need to help towards transport and the funding awareness for providing bulk transport out to Ukraine – something that Michael is very experienced and effective with. Gathering aid and bulk transport from UK across Europe to Ukraine.

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All assistance, sharing etc; it is really greatly appreciated anything you can also help with.
Thank you very much – Steve Hotson

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DriveAid transport

Aid deliveries from UK for people affected by upheaval and displacement,
including Ukraine & surrounding regions

Background

Overland Moto expeditions
Ukraine was a key transit region for our Moto explorer overland expeditions. Initially using the southern routes, then as the invasion developed from the south east, we still manage to transit, reverting to the north and central Ukraine regions, via Kiev and Sumy. The local people, culture, roads etc are all very hospitable to us (although bumpy in places!) I feel for the people caught up in the on-going atrocities. Our support is just something small we can do to try and help a little, especially for the children and displaced families.

Voluntary transport
Initially using my own support vehicle and resources, plus raising some funds and help from friends, to do our small part to help. Assistance when a truck or van driver is required to take vehicles and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. C1E / HGV & CPC qualified.

Transport Motoexplorer UK / DriveAid / Ukraine helping Carmen with driving their 15t Daf and special equipment aid from UK into Ukraine

Road transport Ukraine

In UK I am pleased to link to the fantastic work being done by Michael Byrne, who founded the non-profit – Driving aid to ukraine in the early days of the conflict, his work continues to grow – alongside the desire to help our fellow European citizens in their time of need.

Driving Aid to Ukraine is a not-for-profit organisation that helps deliver UK aid directly to Ukraine.  
Given the scale and urgency of the need, and the complexity of the mix of new crisis interventions / helping displaced people recover & restart their lives, a combined effort of all available agencies is required.
Mission
1. Resource donations for the Ukrainian people.
2. Transport donations to trusted agents in Ukraine.
3. Connect NGOs in the UK and EU and coordinate aid deliveries

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Items required for donating and transport to Ukraine;

• waterproofs, coats, trousers
• Boots, sturdy shoes
• Medical items
• Children’s items
  
  Ukraine support driver – some informations from previous drives.
• What’s apparent is the immense task of continuously funding and organising ongoing transport across to the Poland / Ukraine border region. Once at a local warehouse, they have some good logistics to move goods onwards into and through Ukraine. i.e several small vans and volunteer transport.
• From my own small glimpse of the challenges they all face, I can see that continuing to hold peoples attention in terms of what’s needed logistically, is a huge challenge. I also think that people just driving over there, with what-ever support you can muster, is all really well received and appreciated.
• The flow of transport to and through borders; this was something I wanted to see for my own eyes, to see what looks to be happening with disrupted transport, border flow and trucking back-log. I drove up to 2 border crossings, the first at Shehyni  appears the main transit for the large lorries. That isn’t physically blocked. There were no signs of road blocks. I spoke with police right on the border, there was no major issues reaching the border. I was able to drive freely right up to and join the short border queues, (noting it much shorter than when I’d passed that border several times, pre-war, summer time – it used to be very congested) now; the trucks all appear to be getting stacked up well away from the border, through multiple side roads, villages, expressways and truck stops, spreading out 60-70 km away from the border.
• There’s a huge amount of lorries and goods being held up, well away from the border. Mainly Ukrainian plated lorries, but also quite a few Polish one’s amongst them. For me, that was a big frustration, knowing what we know, it appeared more political, and or border bureaucracy driven, than anything like a polish blockade. I drove around say 100km all around those border regions and didn’t see any physical road blockades by Polish people or lorries. Just literally a handful of people with flags alongside the border, but they were well away from the road and weren’t preventing anyone from driving by. Maybe they place a limit on how many trucks can drive by? it’s hard to see how just a handful of protestors could cause any meaningful block-aid or delay.

• It’s created a really grim additional scenario for those Ukrainian drivers, it’s literally freezing cold and many are parked up with no facilities, on rural roads, run out of food and or the capability to get or make hot food.
• Again – local aid guys do an immense amount to directly help those affected drivers, literally spending hours preparing and making big vats of hot food and then doing their best to deliver it to some of the stranded groups of drivers in the evenings. I’m sure a big help, as I saw it myself
• What was apparent (and surprised me a bit) was the vast scale and variety of transport and goods that are potentially flowing to and from Ukraine through those borders, by road haulage. (were they not disrupted)
• There’s a lot of fuel tankers, not sure which way they were delivering the fuel?
• Also various trucks delivering various industrial products out from Ukraine, into Europe. (then getting stranded on the return leg)
• The other border, a little further north, looked a less commercial. I was actually waved through to approach the Polish exit customs quite quickly! and almost entered their customs and border procedure. No doubt it would still take a few hours on the Ukrainian side. Given lack of time and resource, I opted to stay on the Polish side. I’d imagine their own local small vans can cross in a few hours, either way, wasn’t any significant delays from what I saw. (given this probably changes immensely day to day) Trains were also running freely, I saw numerous freight trains. (actually got in a little bother from being in that region, close by the border!) but was addressed, as I’d gone there to also drop some of our donated clothes at another donation place, literally right on the border.
• Some boxes of toys were sent by, DrivingAidtoUkraine, they were very well received and said to be going directly to Ukrainian orphanages. I was pleased that we were able to help get those out there in time for Christmas.
• Within Poland; I got a brief glimpse of the way the Ukrainian people are integrating into Poland. I stayed at a motel not to far from the border. The lady running that was Ukrainian. I spoke with other guests and travellers, there’s clearly a lot of Ukrainians working and settling within Poland. If handled sensitively, I’d imagine those two Nations can both benefit from that collaboration, there’s two vast Countries which can continue to grow their integration with Europe.
• Lets support the UK to also build on these relationships and close proximity with Ukraine and the EU. 

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Regions and countries covererd to/from Ukraine including Slovakia / Poland borders.
France, Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourge, Austria, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, UK, Poland

get in touch with me, Steve Hotson

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Overland Drive aid & transport

Balkans

Routes taken by refugees, overland, crossing multiple foreign borders, usually on foot with nothing more than they could carry, in search on a new, safer start.

Imagine setting of in search of a safe place to live – and this is your route map! at the time Hungary was swiftly acting to close access to its borders, creating conflict and humanitarian issues within the EU, leaving just one long harsh diversion, through blistering heat, turning west for the Croatian border.

European temporary / makeshift camp, Hungary EU, for assisting refugees, travelling through the Balkans. This minimalist facility was provided for just a few days only, before Hungary totally closed it’s southern border access thus forcing refugees to endure a much harsher route, back south in Serbia and then a long trek west into Croatia.

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PressGo venturers book, has a direct connection to my own family and how my own travels started, as well as the past 15 years of travelling to and through Ukraine.

As motorbikers, we always had an instant connection with the people we met throughout Ukraine. When you pull up at the roadside, as we bikers know – you’re instantly in the community, people connect. So, perhaps we can pay something back of that kinship we always experienced. Ukrainians used lots of motorbikes, we shall see if there’s someway to help, even any riders who’d like to go and show their support, carry some small essential items, it should all be helpful.

MotoExplorer UK / DriveAid /
Steve Hotson