Ukraine-Russia: Edinburgh man will travel to Poland to help transport Ukrainian refugees

A local man will travel from Edinburgh to Poland, where he will spend weeks driving Ukrainian refugees to countries where they can settle.

John Duncan, a film-maker living in Edinburgh, is planning to fly to Poland this evening. He will then head to the border of Ukraine and Poland, where he hopes to provide refugees – mainly families with young children and the elderly – with transport assistance.

He decided to help after seeing news coverage of refugees fleeing the conflict in Ukraine. He said: “I got so upset watching the news, and I suddenly felt like I had to do something”.

This realisation came on Monday night, and he quickly sprung into action – booking a flight to Poland for two days time.

He will be taking time away from his usual freelance work, and is intending to stay over in Poland for around two to three weeks – although he suggested he may stay even longer if his help is still needed.

Currently, he is planning to work alone, however, he is hoping to pull together a larger group of volunteers. He said: "Going out there myself feels like a drop in the ocean.”

"I’m just one guy with a car, but if we had a team, we’d make much more of an impact.”

John Duncan, a film-maker living in Edinburgh, who is planning to travel to Poland to drive Ukrainian refugees to wherever they need to go.

He encouraged anyone who can to join him, and added: “Logistically, it’s not that complicated. It’s a cheap flight, we’ve got accommodation available, and we’ve got the funds. We just need people’s time.”

While he is slightly apprehensive about the weeks ahead, he said: “I just feel it’s the right thing to do”.

Mr Duncan has launched a fundraising page, which has so far raised over £4,000. This money will go towards helping him pay for van hire, fuel, food and accommodation for him and the people he’s helping.

He stressed: “Any donation made will directly help Ukrainian families getting to where they need to go.”

If enough money is raised, he would also like to give each family he helps €200 to help them settle wherever they end up.

Mr Duncan will be documenting his journey out in Poland on Instagram. You can keep up with updates by following him on @transport_ukranian_families.

Anyone wanting to donate money can visit his GoFundMe page.

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