“Despair. Destroyed. Devastation.” How a father and daughter made it to the Ukraine border

When the devastating invasion of Ukraine from Russia happened in 2022, a father and daughter decided they were going to help - to raise money and supplies then travel to the Ukraine border to volunteer.

To find out what the pair did to get to the border, Libby Evans explores their journey from Bournemouth to Ukraine.

Ukraine boarder bound by Emily Douglas

How did it happen?

Fundraising photo, by Emily Douglas

Bob has always been known as a charitable figure in his hometown. Volunteering and raising funds for charities has been a huge part of his life. He is known in the town of Torquay, for walking marathons to help people in need to volunteering with ‘Eat that Frog’, a charity that needed help preparing meals to be delivered to vulnerable people in lockdown.

A nun, by Emily Douglas

When it was announced that Russia had invaded Ukraine, Bob knew he wanted to do something to help the cause. “I will travel to the Ukraine border and provide the refugees with urgent supplies.”

Emily and a orphanage worker, by Bob Ward

His Bournemouth-based daughter Emily Douglas, who is a family orientated and caring individual, decided she wanted to join. They had never done anything like this before, it scared them, but they knew it was something they had to do. To embark on this extraordinary adventure and to put themselves out of their comfort zones, volunteering and helping the war victims.

I met Bob Ward at his humble home in Torquay which he shares with his wife Susan and two dogs Dolly and Bonny. With a warm smile, he gave me a hug and introduced himself and his wife.

He was dressed in a bright red jumper and black trousers, with reading glasses hanging around his neck. After getting me a glass of water he sat down opposite me on a cream chair. I clipped my microphone onto his collar and asked him to talk about his remarkable trip to the Ukraine border.

I met Emily at her place of work in Bournemouth on a sunny afternoon. She greeted me with a cordial welcome, still dressed in her uniform. The shop she worked at was very quiet, she directed me to a plastic chair in the corner with a radiant smile plastered on her face.

Toiletries, clothes and toys. That’s all that went around in Bob and Emily’s heads for weeks as they fundraised for their trip to the Ukraine border. They were told that a lot of the refugees had nothing.

Emily reflected at the time: “The thought of children having nothing breaks my heart.”

Motivation kicked in and Emily had the idea that they would fill a van to the brim full of supplies. The company Snows of Exeter heard of their adventure and decided to kindly donate a Mercedes van called ‘Snowy’.

A mascot was born. Emily bought a toy owl and decided that would be their mascot, they would fundraise enough money, collect items and get to that border no matter what. The finish line was in sight.

Bob and Emily by Emily Douglas

Bob, Emily and Family by Emily Douglas

With the idea in place, it was time to get fundraising. All hands on deck. The plan was to raise as much money as possible to pay for the cost of the trip, the rest of the money would be donated to a charity that was organising travel for the refugees to reach a safe space.

Every day to the build-up of the event, Emily and Bob received bin bag after bin bag, box after box, filled with detrimental supplies. As I was talking to Bob and Emily in both interviews, talking about the fundraising, both of them described how compassionate and thoughtful everyone that helped out was.

Emily said whilst smiling: “It makes you realise how much kindness is in this world.”

Supplies by Emily Douglas

When I asked how their journey started to the Ukraine border Emily exclaimed that she got the pair bracelets with the Ukraine colours on.

As she said this she reached into her purse and showed me hers; “just a little sentiment to remember our trip.”

They put on the bracelets, put the owl at the front then drove nonstop.

“Three hours on, then we would switch. We were just running on adrenaline at this point,” Bob exclaimed as he scratched his head.

Bob Ward by Libby Evans

Emily Douglas by Libby Evans

26 hours of road, four countries and 2,500 miles later the father-daughter duo had made it to their first destination, a children’s orphanage.

“No one spoke English there, we dropped off some supplies, met the amazing priest who ran the grounds and then they filled our van back up ready for the Ukraine border,” Bob stated.

“We were tired, but we had to keep going.”

Helpers by Emily Douglas

Mary Qiriaqi, a friend of Bob Ward who watched him fundraise for the trip said:

“It was amazing to see Bob put himself out into the world with his daughter. I know he couldn’t just sit there and watch the war unfold without helping.”

Mary helped Bob fundraise by putting on a dance class where all the proceeds went to the trip.

Dance class by Libby Evans

Dance class by Libby Evans

I asked Emily what her feelings were when they reached the border, she pondered for a few seconds and then said:

“I felt like crying, holding back the tears was extremely hard."

She described the place where the refugees were staying as an abandoned shopping mall, they got given passes to go inside and volunteer and their breaths were taken away by the amount of people who were there.

Bob started to get emotional when he said: “There were different rooms for the different countries that families wanted to go to.”

Desperation. Destroyed. Devastation

As the interviews went on, separately, Bob and Emily both had to take a pause when talking about how some children never turned up to the camp.

“Massive coaches full of children just wouldn’t turn up, parents waiting all day for their children was heartbreaking.” Emily reflected. She then started to talk about her own children and how the parents must feel.

“Children vanishing into thin air just isn’t okay.”

“The whole experience was life-changing, it was incredible,” Emily said smiling, putting her hands together on her lap.

“It brought me and my father a lot closer together.”

Nearly 8 million refugees from Ukraine have been recorded in neighbouring countries.

If anyone would like to donate to a Ukraine help fund, follow this link.

Click here for a link to a video about this story!

Bob Ward by Emily Douglas

Pop-up beds by Bob Ward

Donations by Emily Douglas