As soon as I opened my own independent funeral directors, Perry Jones Funeral Services in March 2021 I wanted to become involved in the local community. I contacted Waterloo News Community Facebook page and became involved in various community appeals; a fortnightly food bank collection and assisting ‘We Shall Overcome’, a charity ran by Pauline Town MBE. Last year, we ran an Afghanistan Refugee Appeal collecting clothing, toiletries and food items, we collected for a Christmas Toy Appeal, Winter Warmer Appeal (socks, gloves and hats for homeless) and just recently an Easter Egg Appeal, donating almost 150 Eggs.
When I heard about the war in Ukraine, I felt the desire to do something. Just a few days after the war, I began searching online for local charities or businesses running appeals. Amazed by the lack of initiative, I decided to set up an appeal to try and help the unfortunate people fleeing their homes.
I offered my funeral home as a drop-off point intending to take the items to the distribution centre in Manchester. With the help of Waterloo News we appealed for toiletries, nappies, first aid supplies, clothes, bedding, towels, and sanitary products. Within 24 hours there were people arriving with items, I was inundated with phone calls from people in the local community and beyond. Schools were collecting items, local businesses became involved – the generosity was overwhelming.
Together with Lee Woods and Dave Howarth from Waterloo News Community Facebook page I spent hours processing all the items. We had boxes specifically separating different items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoos, shower gels, hairbrushes, colouring books, crayons, nappies, sanitary products, medicines, shaving items, deodorants and baby wipes. We even separated all the clothes from coats, hats, socks, trousers etc. The garage at my business premises soon filled. After two weeks of collecting items and a constant stream of donations still coming, we learnt the distribution centre in Manchester was also overwhelmed and unable to process their own items.
Where will these items go? How soon can we get these much-needed items to those fleeing the war? We wondered. The last thing I wanted was for the donations to be sat in a warehouse for weeks or even months.
We jokingly suggested taking it ourselves and it soon became a realization that this really was an option. Knowing people’s generous donations were getting where they needed to be was a key factor. We decided to document the trip on our social media enabling people to actually witness their donation being handed over.
The Ukrainian Club in London gave advice on how to get through customs with Humanitarian Aid along with a list of organizations in Poland accepting donations. I contacted Aid Prytula, a charity that has been working with people of Ukraine, particularly their military since 2016, when Russia began to occupy the Crimea and Donbas areas of Ukraine. Since February 2022, when Russia began to invade Ukraine they became more involved in Humanitarian Aid. A volunteer working out of Kyiv, Ukraine arranged for us to meet her colleagues and deliver our items.
And so, my brother Craig Perry, Lee Woods from Waterloo News and I set off on Wednesday 23rd March at 7:30pm we began our journey. Our initial idea was to drive three or four hours, each allowing those not driving to rest and try to sleep. We drove to Dover, took the ferry to Dunkirk, France, arriving early hours of the morning. We then drove through Belgium and a small distance through Holland before entering Germany, which we drove the whole width of before entering Poland.
The idea of trying to sleep when not driving did not transpire. Sitting upright in a van with very little leg room proved to be quite difficult, we were literally catnapping whilst not driving.
We arrived in Poland Thursday evening around 10pm and booked an Airbnb to have a few hours rest. We had driven through six different countries in just 22 hours. Once rested and showered we hit the road again. We were close to Auschwitz and took the opportunity of a very quick walk around the camp and paid our respects. I had seen images of this camp many times, but nothing compares to witnessing it first-hand, the atmosphere really was thought provoking.
4pm Friday and we arrive at Lubycza Krolewska, Poland. One of the volunteer translators advised us it was safe, there was an American helicopter circling the area. Reassured, we headed to the border, just a few miles away.
The scene was quite chaotic. A police car’s blue flashing lights; a large marquee; that I assumed was used to process people – it was filled with chairs; a stall cooking food for people; a stall with clothes and other items… Closer to the border we saw a make-shift ambulance – a white van with a red cross painted on the back window. There was a huge convoy of HGVs waiting to cross into Ukraine. Polish soldiers, some that were very young, were walking around the camp. They walked to the Ukraine/Polish border to escort a group of people (accompanied by a dog, who was also fleeing) out of Ukraine. Some people only had the bags on their back, but they were warmly greeted and seemed happy to be there.
A group of men from Wolverhampton who, like ourselves, had driven over with aid but was staying and taking monetary donations to go and load their van with food to bring back to the border.
We spoke with an American man who was funding the food runs. He gave us his card, we later realised he is running for 2024 American Presidential Elections. He has hired a house in Poland and is offering accommodation to those fleeing Ukraine.
Eventually, we headed back to the UK, no overnight trips planned, just non-stop driving, only stopping for food, toilet breaks or driver changes. The return journey was difficult, travelling all night in the dark through Poland and some of Germany with not many streetlights, no cats’ eyes on the road. Being so tired, the drive was certainly a challenge but determined, we made it back to Dunkirk and boarded the ferry on Saturday at 4pm. Six and a half hours later we arrived back at the funeral home. We had travelled just short of 3000 miles in 75 hours and delivered the aid to where it was needed – our mission was complete.
This was a trip I will never forget. I feel very humbled to have been part of making sure our community’s donations were delivered where they were needed.
Emma Jones
BA (Hons), MA, MSc, M.B.I.F.D.
