Warwickshire’s Polish Community Sends Aid, Including Ambulances, to Ukraine

A Polish community located in a Warwickshire town is leading efforts to send humanitarian assistance from the county to individuals residing in Ukraine. The most recent decommissioned ambulance, loaded with supplies intended for victims of the Russia-Ukraine war, departed from Royal Leamington Spa on Monday morning. Since the commencement of the conflict, over 40 vehicles have completed the three-day journey to Leżajsk, situated on the Poland/Ukraine border, transporting a total of 250 tonnes of aid to date. The acquisition cost for each ambulance ranges from £7,000 to £8,000, in addition to expenses for preparing the vehicles for their journey across Europe. Dawid Kozlowski, representing Royal Leamington Spa’s Polish Centre, stated: “We are very proud of what we have achieved for such a small organisation and it says a lot about our community.” Mr. Kozlowski is employed by LKQ Euro Car Parts, an entity that has offered substantial financial support for these aid missions. Additionally, Matt Western, the Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington, has participated in two of the recent journeys. Throughout the ongoing conflict, the Leamington-based group has also supplied six washing machines to a community of nuns assisting displaced individuals. “It’s not the kind of thing you think about, but these are the problems they have,” Mr. Kozlowski commented. He added: “We see more and more people from the community wanting to get involved. As we said from day one, it’s not just a Polish project. “We’re now at a stage where most of our volunteers are not Polish people and that’s great to see.” The most recent expedition is also scheduled to transport mobility aids to Ukraine, intended for soldiers who have sustained limb loss. Furthermore, the Leamington organization contributed to funding eye surgery for a 14-year-old boy. Mr. Kozlowski recounted: “When we were arranging to take ambulance number one into Ukraine, we arranged for Ignit and his mum to come through the border and meet us.” He continued: “He came to me and said ‘thank you for giving me a second life’ and you realise a single person can make a difference to another person’s life.” Judith Clarke, the mayor of Royal Leamington Spa, attended an event at the Polish Centre earlier this year and expressed that she “was so impressed with what they were doing.” She further stated: “I was very, very humbled actually to meet these people.” Following the event, she discussed it with her husband, Steve, who subsequently decided to volunteer as a driver for this week’s trip, alongside his lifelong friend Kaz Librowski, whose parents are Polish, and another friend, Paul Elsden. “I’m very proud that Steve has taken up this challenge to help the people in Ukraine,” she remarked. She added: “Lots of people in Leamington took in Ukrainian refugees and that was a sign of what a wonderful commmunity we are and, all over Warwickshire, people are helping.” The mayor’s consort commented: “I’ve known about this operation for quite a while now, then Judith went to the event at the Polish Centre, told me about it and I thought ‘I’d like to do that sometime’.” He continued: “I’m strongly motivated by anything that stops Putin. I don’t think we can allow an armed invasion to succeed.” “All it takes for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing, so at least we are doing something.” He concluded: “It helps and I’m sure the Ukrainians appreciate it.”