‘We all filled up at some point’ – Sunderland's Tate’s Travel boss describes the emotional experience of relocating Ukrainian refugee families

Tate’s Travel had been acting as a donation point for vital supplies of aid and on April 17, Lee joined Adrian Smith from Gardiners Holidays coach company to travel on two coaches to the Polish Ukraine border to drop off “several tonnes of aid” and to transport refugee families to safe-homes in Utrecht in the Netherlands.

After stopping at a Tesco’s warehouse in the city of Chelm to unload vital supplies of non perishable foods, baby-care products, basic first-aid equipment and warm clothing, the coaches were redirected to a refugee camp Przemyśl, just 10 miles from the Polish border and 90 miles from the Ukrainian city of Lviv which was still under bombardment from the Russian onslaught.

Lee said: “Because of the close proximity to the border we were told there were thousands of people in Przemyśl waiting to be transferred. When I got there, the closest thing I can describe it to is like a music festival site. Even though temperatures at night were around freezing there were families with their bags and pets sleeping in tents and there were portaloos dotted around the site.

"There was accommodation inside but many people were sleeping outside as they didn’t have the right paperwork.”

One of the first things to hit Lee was the lack of men at the camp.

He said: “Nearly everyone there were women and children as the vast majority of men had remained behind to fight. Any male under 60 or with less than three children were not allowed to cross the border.

"There was one man who was with his wife and disabled child. They were having to carry him around and so he had obviously been allowed to travel to help care for his child.”

While upset by the scenes he witnessed, it was mixed emotions for Lee who also got to “experience the kindness of human nature”.

He said: “There were hundreds of people constantly turning up on coaches as they fled from Ukraine. However there were so many people who had come to help by setting up stalls to provide people with free food and drinks.

"While the worst side of humanity is the reason why people were in this situation, I also got to see the best of what humankind is like. There was one English woman who was living in Poland who had travelled to Przemyśl and was living out of her car.

"She had bought hundreds of rucksacks and was filling them with sweets, and colouring pens and books to give to children who were boarding the different coaches.

"There were some Polish guys who we got talking to who were travelling in a minibus back and forth through the war zone to a town just outside Lviv where people had become trapped. Every time they did a run they would take supplies of food and then bring people back.”

After several hours at the camp, including a strict check of passports and paperwork to eliminate the potential risk of people trafficking, the two coaches were boarded by 70 refugees “along with the odd pet cat and dog”.

Lee said: “We had a 1,000 mile journey back to Utrecht and so two hours in we stopped at a service station Burger King to get everyone some food. While Adrian drove the coach I acted as cabin service, providing drinks and snacks.

"We knew there would be a language barrier and so we had prepared picture cards for people to point to and let us know what they wanted. It was a 14 hour drive and I’ve never seen so many people sleep for so long.

"We thought we’d have to make a few comfort stops but nearly everyone, including the children, slept most of the way. They were obviously exhausted and traumatised by what they’d been through.

"Perhaps this was the first time in weeks they felt warm, comfortable and safe.”

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While those onboard were grateful for the help they were being given, Lee said the atmosphere was “generally very subdued”.

He added: “These people have seen their lives turned upside down and most were sat quiet and stony-faced. We may have been there to help, but at the end of the day we were driving these people hundreds of miles further away from their home.

"Even the children were very quiet. They will have endured a traumatic time and many of their dad’s had been left behind to fight in the war.”

Ironically it was their arrival in Utrecht, and the completion of their mercy mission, that really saw the team’s emotions begin to erupt.

Lee said: “We watched families getting off the bus and we knew we’d brought them somewhere safe but they were once again being dropped off at another centre to be processed.

"The enormity of the disruption these people have been through really hit you. It was upsetting – everyone struggled and was filling up a bit.”

Lee felt compelled to become involved in the mission after witnessing the harrowing scenes of fleeing refugee families on television.

He said: “Everyone was pleased to have taken part and feels satisfied they’ve made a contribution to help. It’s obviously only a drop in the ocean but if everyone does something then hopefully it can make a difference.”

Since the start of the conflict, more than 11 million people are believed to have been displaced with 5.2m refugees seeking sanctuary in other European nations, including almost three million in Poland.