Club seeks wheelchairs and crutches for Ukraine

An appeal has gone out for wheelchairs, crutches and walking frames for victims of the war in Ukraine.

The Rotary Club of Northampton Becket plans to load the equipment onto a second-hand ambulance, which will be driven to the Ukrainian border next month.

The club has also appealed for warm clothing for all ages, as the forthcoming winter season in the country will see temperatures drop well below freezing.

One of the drivers said the handover point for the ambulance would be "a long way from the fighting and bombing".

During its weekly meetings at the Overstone Golf Club near Northampton, one of the town's five Rotary clubs discussed plans to get an ambulance into Ukraine filled with rehabilitation equipment and clothing.

David Smith, one of the drivers who will be making the trip, said: "This is a humanitarian mission.

"We've bought a second-hand ambulance from a dealer in Birmingham. They pick up loads of ambulances that the NHS have finished with - they're still mechanically sound and the condition of the bodywork doesn't matter."

The ambulance has been stripped of its equipment, although the club will retain a stretcher.

Mr Smith said he had bought stretcher brakes online which "clamp into the floor to stop the patient flying off as you pull away".

There will be plenty of space in the back for mechanical aids, so the club has appealed for donations of wheelchairs, crutches and walking frames.

They have also appealed for winter clothing suitable for any age which will become essential when temperatures start to drop.

The club has worked with Rotarians in Ukraine to organise a handover on the Ukrainian side of the border with Poland.

Mr Smith said the handover would take place "a long way from all the fighting and the bombing so we should be fairly safe", although he admits to saying it is "very safe" when his wife is listening.

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