Bristol charity workers are travelling more than 1,700 miles to the Poland/Ukraine border with vans full of donations for those fleeing from the conflict.
LoveBristol, which is a church and charity organisation based in Stokes Croft, has been collecting donations for the people of Ukraine since just Saturday (March 5) at number 419 Gloucester Road.
A GoFundMe page has also been set up by the team and has so far raised £7,290 of its £10,000 goal. This money is being put towards van hire and travel costs, as well as purchasing selected items, specifically food items in Poland.
Read more: Woman who flew to Poland to help Ukrainian refugees says situation is 'heartbreaking'
In rather emotional scenes, the group set off from their hub on Gloucester Road just before lunchtime today (March 9) to catch their Eurotunnel train at 3:30pm, after spending much of the morning loading all of the donations onto its transport. Two vans and a people carrier left the site, with some volunteers hugging their loved ones goodbye - they'll be apart for at least a week, though some may choose to stay out there for longer.
In Ukraine, churches are currently acting as hubs that send supplies and support to devastated areas in Ukraine while in Poland, churches are giving Ukrainians temporary accommodation and respite on their journey out of the country.
The team have been communicating with church leaders in Ukraine and Poland and have a specific list of items they have been tasked with collecting - these range from sleeping bags, camping mats and blankets, to medical gloves, masks, bandages and even bulletproof vests and kevlar helmets (if possible).
Greg Thompson, one of the organisers of the trip, told Bristol Live that there were 12 people and several volunteers involved with the efforts - one of which had previous experience working with the Dunkirk and Calais refugee camps - and said: "There are lots of people on the Polish side helping refugees and we have contacts in Lyiv in Ukraine where churches are helping to distribute items. There's been lots of people helping and organising things of their own on social media, here in Bristol too.
"The Ukrainian president has ignited something so extraordinary. To see an ordinary person come into power and have such an impact during such a time. Everyone's being so helpful and productive.
WThe Polish government are being amazing, too, in how they have set up help."
Greg explained that the team won't just be delivering items to the churches on both sides of the border, but that they will also be using money from the GoFundMe donations to buy long-life food items and other essentials in Poland for people affected by the conflict. He says this is to "help the local economy" and added that the team will also be helping to transport people to where they need to go, by picking them up from the border and dropping them off in various locations across Europe.
Asked whether the team will be making further trips to the Ukrainian/Polish border upon their return to Bristol, Greg said: "We'll see how it is when we get there. So many people are helping so it's good that we can do something but, if we get there and there's too much help or more items than they know what to do with, we may just say that that's it.
"If not, we're hoping to make journeys every two weeks or so and we'll be looking for more donations."
Other members of the team on the trip include self-proclaimed 'logistics manager' Flo, who told Bristol Live that she had managed to pull off quite the feat when it came to customs and crossing borders - what would usually have taken some five months to do, she managed in just three days!
Another hero of the team was Leah, part of the LoveBristol team and someone who has chosen to leave someone very special to her behind so she can help the people of Ukraine.
Leah told us: "The decision to actually go on the trip came about after having conversations in the LoveBristol team and I just decided I wanted to go. My husband is staying behind to run his bakery business in Stokes Croft and so we'll be apart for a week, maybe longer. There's talk of us joining other groups when we're out there."
Other items being taken to the Ukraine border include adult nappies, sanitary products, knitted dolls, medication torches, metal cups and plates, power banks and even underwear.
You can follow all the progress of the 'Little Bit of Love from Bristol to Ukraine' journey on the official Facebook page here.
Get the best stories about the things you love most curated by us and delivered to your inbox every day. Choose what you love here.
Read more: Teacher helps Ukrainians by booking Airbnb that he never intends to use
Also read: Four British soldiers may have gone AWOL to fight in Ukraine
