Cumbrian-based writer and environmentalist Kate Rawles is used to adventure but her latest trip is set to add another chapter to an already extraordinary life.
This weekend Kate and brother Bill are delivering a donated pick-up truck to Ukraine overland from the UK.
The pair are taking a ferry from Newcastle which will land them in mainland Europe.
They will then drive through Poland to Ukraine to deliver the vehicle which is packed with urgently needed medicines and welfare supplies.
“My brother has taken part in five other trips and when he was short of a co-driver I wanted to help.” Kate told Cumbria Crack as her ferry left Newcastle.
The Pickupsforpeace charity is based in Scotland and so far the charity has taken four-wheel drive vehicles, ambulances and quad bikes to Ukraine, loaded with aid to support those in need.
Kate’s Mitsubishi is filled with Calpol, junior ibuprofen and a small of mountain of nappies.
“We’ll be making for Kyiv City Children’s Clinical Hospital number 1 to unload the supplies before handing the vehicle over to the military,” Kate said.
“The trucks are used to extract those injured from the front line. It’s estimated each carries around 10 and with over 500 vehicles supplied you can imagine the difference they have already make.”
The truck Kate and Bill have taken has been donated by an Aberdeenshire farmer close to where Bill, a retired air traffic controller, now lives.
The vehicle was repainted by the pair from red to Nato green ready for the trip across Europe.
“I feel lucky to be able to do this small thing to try and make a difference,” Kate said.
The writer will return to the UK in time to attend the Adventure Travel Show where she will be promoting her book, The Life Cycle, which was written to record a 13- month cycling adventure through South America documenting biodiversity loss.
