ILKLEY woman, Sarah Fraser, has found herself in the midst of the Ukrainian refugee crisis.
Sarah, 47, who featured in Channel 4's No Going Back series, now lives in Poland with her husband, who works for NATO.
After seeing the events of the last three weeks unfold, she travelled 12 hours from her home in Szczecin - on the north west border of Poland - to the border crossing of Przemysl, initially to deliver a truck load of food, baby milk and medication.
She said: “In those first few days the border was chaos. The large NGO's move slowly so, apart from the International Red Cross and The Polish Humanitarian Association, no one was there. It was just small scale help, mostly from local volunteers.”
Since then Sarah has returned to the border every week, taking supplies and giving safe transport and accommodation to vulnerable adults and young people.
“Last week our team managed to get an unaccompanied minor over the border and escorted him all the way to central Germany, where he had an elderly aunt," she said. "He couldn't have done this on his own, and the people trafficking issue is frightening.”
Sarah says that the situation has improved in the last week and there is much more organisation at the border.
"We are offering help to people who want to go to the UK, but unfortunately there is confusion over the changes to the visa situation and people do not know how to apply, nor where they will go," she added. "We are hoping to get posters and information leaflets into train stations and reception centres to help people understand their choices."
Now Sarah is fundraising through the GoFundMe platform. "We have raised about £1600 so far, which has all been spent on practical aid," she said. "If we can raise a little more we can carry on moving those vulnerable children away from the border to safe accommodation and also help people who want to seek refuge in the UK."
If you would like to support Sarah Fraser and her team their instagram account is @help_ukrainian_refugees and GoFundMe link: https://gofund.me/43cb2608
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