A man who is driving an ambulance full of supplies to Ukraine on Sunday will pick up his mum on the way back to stay at his home in Beckenham.
Oleksandr Hulitskiy, 36, is part of a huge team of volunteers from across London collecting money for vehicles and supplies to send to Ukraine.
Oleksandr told the News Shopper: “It is really exciting, what could be better.
"I am popping in to do one good thing and then doing another good thing.”
His mum Anastasia, 64, is currently waiting for him in a Krakow hotel after receiving her VISA to come to the UK on Wednesday.
Oleksandr decided to take her out of Ukraine because he felt it was not safe during the war.
She will be staying at his home along with his wife and three young boys.
He said: “I don’t know how long she will stay because she really likes her garden, and she is like ‘oh the weather is so nice’ and I am just like ‘just wait there is a war!’”
Anastasia was telling him how a man had offered them hot drinks and baked goods in a coffee shop in Poland after seeing the little Ukrainian flags that they carried.
She told him that the people in Krakow were unbelievably welcoming.
Oleksandr explained that it is a six-hour drive from Krakow to the Ukrainian border, so he will probably take his mum with him to drop off the vehicles and then fly back to the UK from the nearest city.
Oleksandr said: “My grandmother, my brothers and sisters from my mother’s side are still there because they said this is our land and we are going to stay here and fight.
“You can see what people do there on the news.
“Tanks are coming into the towns and they try to stop them with their bare hands.”
So far, the group has sent 16 ambulances to Ukraine, along with this one they are sending on Sunday and another two off-road vehicles.
He said: “Every single vehicle goes through the garage when we purchase it, again by volunteers who don’t really charge anything.
“We change all the oils and make them roadworthy again because some of them have been sitting in the yard for a year or two.
“We do everything to make sure they will be ready… as we say ‘to fight’ because they are going to have a tough time there.”
The team has already purchased a few more ambulances that are currently in Derby.
They are waiting on enough donation money to purchase another one and make the most of the journey to the midlands.
The team brings the vehicles to Heathrow where they are stored in a giant warehouse for free.
Oleksandr pleads that more people get involved and take action to support the Ukrainian people.
He said: “If more people like us try to do the same thing, the easier it will be for the people in Ukraine because they will feel this support and power that has been brought together because of the war.”
You can donate to the team and learn more about their work here.
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