Military truck to deliver aid to rural Ukraine

A Norfolk pair who have been delivering aid to Ukraine are sending their latest load in a former military vehicle, to help reach people in rural areas.

Zoe Waites and Scott Stones, who run a haulage company in Swaffham, have made 18 trips to Ukraine since the start of the war.

The rotary club of Swaffham has covered the £20,000 cost of the vehicle through donations and funds.

Ms Waites said residents in the war-torn country "were normal people just like you and I, and it [war] could happen to any of us at any point".

Mr Stones first travelled, external to Ukraine in March 2022, taking supplies across the country.

Ms Waites said: "On one of Scott's last trips he realised there was a lot of aid in warehouses that was struggling to get to the front... we needed a more all-terrain vehicle."

The vehicle will stay in Ukraine upon arrival so it can be used to distribute food and medical supplies to harder-to-reach communities.

"There's smaller villages in more rural areas which in the winter isn't particularly accessible," said Ms Waites.

She said she wanted to "help those civilians who have nothing - if need be we can transport people away from those areas and just do what we can".

Ms Waites said every donation to them was a "small piece of a jigsaw".

"We'll keep on helping for as long as we are able to.

"We are not over there as frequently as we were in the first 12 months, because the aid doesn't come through like it used to, but if you ask Scott he is there until the bitter end."

The truck will be unveiled at an event in Swaffham market place on Saturday with the rotary club.

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