A DEDICATED group of young filmmakers drove for two days from Bucks to a Polish border village to deliver a horse trailer full of aid supplies to refugees fleeing the dangerous war in Ukraine.
After filling their horse trailer with daily essential products and urgent medical supplies, the group called Films4Humanity – Anastasia Harrold, Ben Sheridan and Maddie Cole- drove the load across Europe in bid to help.
They met working in the film industry, and connected over their shared belief that if you’re able to do something, then you should.
The senseless conflict in Ukraine has hit the trio “close to home”, Ms Harrold from Chalfont St Peter said.
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“We were sick of talking about how terrible it is whilst sitting by and doing nothing.”
After paring with a Polish charity Zintegrowana Służba Ratownicza (ZSR), they rallied people on social media to donate supplies and money, eventually exceeding the £5000 target and raising it to £30,000 to pay for another ambulance for the front line charity ZSR.
Able to travel thanks to the nature of film industry work, they loaded the horsebox as full as safely possible- arriving to Korczowa in south-eastern Poland late on March 6 with feeling anticipation about the real situation on the ground.
Ms Harrold said: “It was organised chaos with very little official influence.
“We saw people who didn’t know what was going to happen to them.
“Zed beds were crammed into every corner – with more coming every day according to our NGO.”
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While translation was an issue for volunteers to organise specific medical help, as most refugees spoke Ukrainian and Russian, the trio helped with seemingly small but important acts of kindness.
“As we handed out sweets to the children an older woman asked if she could take some for herself as she’d been travelling for four days and didn’t have the strengths to stand in the line for food.
“We heard a small child crying “Mama, I want to go home” but her mama simply said we can’t right now.
“A little boy took one blue and one yellow sweet, then went to his mum and put one on top of the other – the Ukrainian flag”
They feel anger and disappointment that situations like this are still happening in 2022, Ms Harrold said.
“Families are torn apart, children losing parents and men having to fight for their country in order to save it.”
“We feel happy and relieved that we have done the first trip successfully, knowing that we may have helped even a small number of refugees.”
What surprised them, was the endless generosity of people from back home.
“We had a little noise that would come from the phone every time we got a donation. What surprised us is how often we heard that little ping”, Ms Harrold said.
“People have been incredibly generous, both with the volume of those who’ve donated, and the amount people have donated to.
“We’re incredibly grateful to every one of them.”
All travel costs were paid out of their own pocket, Ms Harrold added.
Their page and how to donate can be found on Facebook at Films4Humanity and on Instagram here.
All images in video courtesy of Films4Humanity
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