A group of Berkshire lads set out for Ukraine this month to help offer humanitarian aid and transport to refugees at the border.

Following reports of stranded Ukrainian women and children, a four-vehicle convoy set out filled with sanitary essential’s and baby supplies in an effort to reach the border.

Warren Cady from Bracknell was inspired to offer humanitarian support with a group of friends when he witnessed women and children stranded in Poland after fleeing their homes.

As a father of two, he said that ‘seeing footage of children effectively lying at the start of the road was heart-breaking.’

As well as Warren, the eight strong group included his brother Gavin Cady, Mark Batterham and Paul Andrew from Windsor and Terry Doolan from Slough. Three Essex men also joined them.

READ MORE: Bracknell readers tell us what they achieved in lockdown

With the help of charity GeeWizz, the team of eight were able to make contact with a warehouse at the Polish/Ukrainian border where the supplies could then be transported to Ukrainian hospitals and people in need.

Cady said: “The warehouse that we offloaded our supplies was building number one if Russia were to invade Poland, so it just brought the reality home.

“You could actually smell the smoke from the war zone, that’s how close we were.”

Following the delivery of essential supplies, the eight men had another task to do before their time there was complete.

With four empty vehicle’s they soon headed to a refugee camp nearby where thousands of women and children lie in devastating conditions.

“The refuge was horrible, there were lots of kids looking very distressed, lots of beds, crying, commotion and people were just shell shocked,” He said.

“At first no-one would get into our vehicles, they were so scared and they didn’t know who to trust, especially when human trafficking has been so rife in the area,” he explained

“Fortunately, I had a Ukrainian translator on standby, so he was able to explain we were there for humanitarian reasons.”

In total, the team collected 16 Ukrainian refugees, with one car heading to Berlin and the other three to Leipzig.

The Bracknell man explained: “There were thousands at the camp, but the vast majority wanted to stay in Poland because they intend to go back to Ukraine and the further, they go the harder it will be to go back.”

“The night before we left was so difficult because we had to leave, we had no choice. We went back there first thing in the morning and carried on the fight.”

“The worst emotion for the whole team was coming home, that’s when it hit because when you are there you don’t have time for emotion.”

After the dust settles on their recent mission, the team plan to arrange another trip to the Ukrainian border. He is currently corresponding with families and refugees to obtain paperwork and aid for them to travel safely.