Retired Knaresborough coach driver's appeal for funds as he plans sixth trip to Ukraine to deliver aid

Bob Frendt and his partner Maureen Swann, who are both retired, have made it their personal mission to deliver humanitarian aid to the town, whose hospitals were recently hit by Russian forces leaving the civilians without basic medical aid.

Mr Frendt, 71, began volunteering when he found himself at a loose end during COVID. He said: "I was just bored and fed up”

Working all sorts of odd jobs, he unexpectedly suffered a heart attack which resulted in severely reducing his workload.

Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine broke out and he could not shift the urge to get involved with helping civilians caught in the Ukrainian war zone.

Mr Frendt thought to himself: "I need to do something, I don’t know what, but I need to do something”.

Three days later he saw a post on Facebook looking for a second driver with a HGV license to make the journey to the war-torn country.

Working with Sorin Transport of Bedford, Mr Frendt volunteered to help and drove a 44-tonne articulated truck to Ukraine.

He made a number of contacts during his trip and a second journey to deliver a coach to Kyiv soon followed.

He was accompanied on his travels by a Manchester-based businessman, who prefers to remain anonymous.

Mr Frendt described him as: “a successful business man who has donated money to many charities for a number of years.

"He felt compelled to help the people of Ukraine and even bought a coach for second journey so they could use it as a mobile triage unit in Ukraine”

Mr Frendt has established a number of strong, personal relationships on his journeys, including one with a family from Poland.

He said: "The help I've had from businesses and individuals is unbelievable. The Polish family would feed us and fill up the truck with diesel, they would insist.”

After his second journey, Mr Frendt approached medical equipment suppliers Mediquip and Andway for any help they may be able to provide.

Hoping to get half a dozen crutches, he was overwhelmed when he was given four truck loads of medical equipment that would otherwise have been disposed of as scrap.

Mr Frendt said: “I never thought for one second they would give me four truck loads.”

However, now without a vehicle, Mr Frendt had no way to deliver the urgently needed aid to Ukraine.

A surprise visit from the Manchester-based businessman provided an unexpected solution.

Mr Frendt said: “I had no idea why he came to visit, then after catching up he gave me some keys.

"He told me there's the truck you need. But the deal is you finance it, tax it, insure, etc, it's up to you now.

"You've got the truck, now you can get on with it.

“I was absolutely flabbergasted.”

Trips three and four would go on to ensure the arrival of the medical items at war-torn hospitals in Volodymyr-Volynskyi.

Mr Frendt said: “When the truck opened, and they saw what was there, they burst into tears.

"A young woman came out to greet us called Tetiana Vashchuk, Chief Executive of the hospital, she told us that there were 45 patients that would have bed that night who had been sleeping on the floor.”

“On the fifth trip we received a huge donation from a Harrogate businessman (who also prefers anonymity) who bought £14,000 of toys for children and orphans over Christmas 2022.

"Due to it not being considered humanitarian aid, it was a nightmare to get it over without huge additional costs, but in the end it had to be done however it could be done.

"It was amazing seeing the children light up when they received the toys.

"One guy, who was part of the activists (Ukrainian soldiers), drove 100 kilometres to meet us and say thank you for the toys.

“When we got talking it turned out he was a raving Beatles and Rolling Stones fan.”

On his next trip, Mr Frendt took with him a 90’s CD player, complete with Beatles CD to give to the young man.

Mr Frendt was also keen to stress the needs of the soldiers, including boots, food, candles, toothbrushes, protective gear and he continues to collect extras like a mobility scooter and blood pressure monitors (battery operated) out of the funds he has raised.

Mr Frendt empathised with people struggling in the UK due to the Cost of Living crisis. He said: “I understand that the harder it gets here for people, the harder it gets to raise money, however, they have nothing over there and it’s very difficult for people to understand what having nothing is.

"It’s very difficult to grasp”

Mr Frendt and Ms Swann thanked Mediquip, Andway Medical, Gentra Medical, Leading Solvents, Harrogate blues, Manchester City, Knaresborough Town FC, Newton House Hotel, Fair Deal Motors, Woodlands Car Wash, Slingsby’s Gin, River Florists, Aldi, Lidl, Wetherby Screen Print, MyLockUp self storage, and all those who have contributed so far.

He said he intends to continue to make trips delivering aid to Ukraine for as long as his health holds out.

His next trip is planned for March 22 and he and Ms Swann, who has accompanied Mr Frendt on two of his trips so far, are currently looking to gather a generous list of prizes for a Valentines dance being held at Knaresborough Town FC, Manse Lane on February 10 at 7pm.

Anyone who would like to donate can contact Mr Frendt by emailing [email protected] or calling 07836 514 952.