A little happiness heading to the Ukraine

A former British Telecom (BT) engineer, Phill, of Esmonde Close, is now a full-time union rep for the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and organiser of its humanitarian aid charity the CWUHA.

Every year, the charity sends two convoys of lorries laden with goods such as clothes and toiletries to impoverished communities in places like the Ukraine and Moldova.

The next leaves tomorrow (Friday), from New-castle and this time Phill will be in the driving seat of one of the 10 BT and Post Office lorries involved.

Weighing in at 7.5 tonnes, the legal limit for normal driving licence holders, each lorry has two drivers who share the driving duty each day.

Among many other items, Phill's lorry contains 3,410 nappies, 132 bars of soap, 156 pairs of socks, 50 pairs of shoes, 102 bed sheets and 360 litres of bleach.

Once they reach Kyiv Oblast in the Ukraine, a journey that will take around six days, they will offload the goods in sealed containers to a charity operating in the Ukraine called Every Child.

Through Every Child, the supplies will be distributed through the Kyiv Oblast administration's department for family and youth, to the people who need them most.

Some of the goods have been donated by individuals and the rest have been paid for with funds raised by Phill and the rest of the CWUHA.

Key providers of goods for Phill's load have been Vokins of Rustington, Somerfield, Peacocks, Tesco, Primark and Macro.

Although he is looking forward to the trip, Phill is under no misconceptions about how it will affect him.

While in Kyiv Oblast, Phill and the other drivers will have the chance to meet some of the people who will benefit from their journey and see for themselves how desperate is the need for aid.

"I'm quite nervous because I've never done anything like this before," he said, "and I may never have the opportunity to do it again.

"Over here we worry about whether or not our children have a PlayStation but in the Ukraine we are taking people shampoo and soap and some of them may not even have running water."

Visit www.cwuha.org for more information on the charity.