Benthespaniel - Before I get too old

So after depositing the ladies we made our way back to the Eurotunnel - a first for me. Waited in the queue and boarded - an uneventful crossing and a bit of blog stuff done. Out the other end and off to my hotel at Ashford - said goodbye to my compadre David - one of the nicest blokes you could hope to meet - bearing in mind that this is coming from a retired Scottish cop and he's both English and a Social Worker - this is praise indeed. Checked in to the hotel and crashed out. My train to London wasn't until 1238 but ever fearful of delays and missing connections - I got up earlier than I needed to, showered and made best value use of the buffet breakfast.  The only thing better than a hotel breakfast buffet is 2 breakfast buffets in my book. Collected tickets and went to the platform Putting a post on Facebook - my eyes filled with tears - anyone who's Scottish and away from home will be able to relate -  This will make you greet Great journey to St Pancras and once I...

Pets need to have a few things to get in to the UK Arnold and Lou had them all - just not in the right order Pet Passport  Microchip Rabies vaccination - and test 30 days later to confirm immunity Tapeworm treatment These animals were very well loved and cared for Sadly, there was no link between the microchip and the rabies vaccination  - the vaccination is common in Ukraine - microchips less so so in the eyes of APHA without the veterinary link between the chip and the vaccine - there was effectively no vaccine The rabies test wasn't 30 days old but the animal can be held in UK quarantine until that time has lapsed to have the test. That's what's happening to them now. I don't really like cats - I'm allergic to their fur so Arnold was okay - he's a hairless cat - a Sphynx I believe I'm not desperately keen on wee dugs either - but I missed my boys when I was away so walking Lou around the car park in Calais was quite therapeutic and certainly better for th...

My head must have hit the pillow and I was out of the game.  After being hangry at the restaurant, I can only say that I felt drunk with fatigue.  I needed that kip.  The Ibis Budget Hotel is basic and functional.  The room clean and warm,  the bed comfortable, the shower warm and the breakfast good.  Ideal for us weary travellers. I had breakfast and watched the German news on tv - expecting traffic jams on the Autobahns as iut's Maundy Thursday - fantastisch! Cleaned out the van and found that we had a stowaway - The Dancer had forgotten Lech Walesa - her soft toy who she got in Poland.   We set off on time - and made decent time - fortunately the traffic jams failed to materialise.  A slight delay at Duisburg as we crossed the Rhine (I know a song about that Timmy) - they're building a new bridge.  Into Holland we went - our departure from  quick stop for fuel and a sandwich was delayed by a call to APHA - the Animal Plant and He...

Thank you I know that since started the blog - some of you have taken the time to donate to the cause and help cover the cost of keeping these people safe. I know lots of you and suspect that I know more but some of you have chosen to remain anonymous Either way - thank you I'm truly humbled that you took the time and made the effort These folk really deserve it Much love X 

So after a glorious sunrise in Warsaw and a few hours rest - we returned to the airport The Dancer and her mother negotiated their encounter with the Chuckle Brothers of Wizz Air and made their first flight to Luton. They landed safely and are now safely living in Oxfordshire - this makes me smile Then it was time to go Destination Hannover for an overnight stay before completing the journey to Calais the following day. The journey was as good if not better than could have been expected - the traffic jams were all in the opposite direction. We bypassed Lodz and Poznan but the volume of lorry traffic was hard to believe. As we crossed the border into Germany at Frankfurt an der Oder the first logjam became apparent About 8 miles of it. Onwards - passing south of Berlin, we stopped for a break before carrying on past Magdeburg and Braunschweig eventually reaching our destination just after seven. In truth I felt almost drunk with fatigue.  We went out for a meal but sadly none of us ...

One of the families that I've been lucky enough to meet is too close to home.  A 35 YO mother and 10 YO daughter from Sumy.  Police Family - she's a call handler, her husband is a police officer - Sergeant / Inspector type supervisor.  The 10 YO daughter wants to be a dancer.  Her dad was a police officer, her sister and brother-in-law are police officers. They arrived in our care with basically a backpack with a few items in it. They obviously had a rough time on the way to us. The mother found out that her brother had been taken by Russian Forces and then tortured and killed - I won't go in to detail - but they identified his body through his tattoos.  His crime was to have fought the Russians in Eastern Ukraine during the invasion 8 years ago.  They buried him 2 days before she told me this via Google translate as we sat eating a McDonalds with her daughter. Hopefully, our meeting will make a good thing happen - a retired colleague of mine has applied to...

So the simple 'Go to Warsaw and get the visa' job was met with the usual home office difficulties - safe to say that it's probably a good thing that David (Patience of a Saint) and nice bloke went rather than me.  The quick job meant that he was not back again until well after 10 when I was kidding on that I was asleep. It did however bear fruit. Ms Patel's underlings provided us with all the visas required.  A few phone calls and a flurry of emailed boarding passes later and it was decided that we were to check out of the hotel that night and head half way towards Calais once we had dropped off families at the airport and picked up our new arrivals from Riga. At 2320 I decided that looking again at the hotel options in Germany would be a good idea I fell back over At 0115 the alarm went off. Showered and dressed and bus loaded with 7 members of 3 departing families we headed off into the darkness to Warsaw Chopin airport.  Arriving at 6 the check in was very busy - lot...

No  plan survives first contact with the enemy or the visa centre in Warsaw it would seem  Expecting the families and my colleague back from Warsaw around 6 pm - there's been a mistake with one of the visas - a typo basically but it can't be fixed at the visa centre - it needs to go back to the Embassy - this means a trip back to Warsaw tomorrow - 3 or 4 hours round trip depending on traffic. I had a walk around the town and had dinner on my own - lovely meal - about £8 for a main course and a couple of beers Went to bed and tried to sleep but couldn't.  They didn't get back until just after 10 pm - 3 of them and me needed to get on the road again at 0330 to get to Krakow Airport for a 0730 flight to the UK A very quick few quick introductions, I gave them their pre printed boarding passes and we all turned in What a waste of time - couldn't sleep - ended up getting up at just after 2 am - got the bus ready to go.  We left on time - thank goodness for Google Maps - ...

Well I made it As usual before any kind of enforced deadline for waking up - early shift / work / catching an early hours flight..... I slept poorly Went to bed at 8pm with the intention of the alarm going off at 0230 - woke up at 2230, again at midnight and yet again at 0130 - pretended to be asleep for a while then just got up shortly after 2am Quick shower and a coffee - then drove to the park and ride at Halbeath. Bus was on time and surprisingly busy - lots of holiday makers getting on at Ferrytoll Already checked in so after security it was time to wait Flight pushed back 3 minutes early and landed 15 minutes early, quickly through passport control  3 minutes after the scheduled arrival time I was on the platform waiting for the train from the airport to Krakow Central Only 11 minutes to spare - to get the next train to my destination so a bit of a rush and took a chance to try and get on without pre-booked ticket but the conductor bloke was really hel...

So Bags packed and passport and driving licence looked out Alarm set for 0230 to get the bus at Halbeath at 0335 Emails from easyJet saying be early as security can be busy - true enough - we went out at around the same time to Spain a few weeks ago and it was busy Plan is now to take the train to my destination as the van is taking people to pick up visas in Warsaw which is positive at least A few people hopefully leaving on flights this week and then the big run to Calais on Thursday for the last train to the UK So A couple of beers in the brewery tonight - no quiz night for me Home, tea and early to bed More to follow when I get there Thank you to those who have been kind enough and able to donate to the justgiving page Flights are expensive when they have to be booked at short notice when the visas come through Much appreciated by me and I'm pretty sure that the Ukrainian families are very grateful too - they're not coming to the UK out of choice, their homes are being bomb...

It's getting real now I 've been in contact with the guys and we are making progress - I'd love to think that it's because of me but that would probably be overgenerous So, it looks like we'll be bringing 3 families to the UK Family 1 - Grandmother / Mother / Daughter Family 2 - Mother / Son / Family Friend Family 3 - Mother / Daughter / Daughter / Cat / Dog 2 families from the Kiev area 1 from Eastern Ukraine I won't be sharing any names / details / photos without their permission obviously - they all have fathers / grandfathers /brothers / uncles / sons all fighting for their country left behind at home. We should be picking up Family 3 from Warsaw on Wednesday 13th - they're currently staying in Latvia! 16 hour road trip to the Eurotunnel at Calais via Poland / Germany / Holland / Belgium and France Once we get to England I get off the bus - they get driven onward to meet their host families. I get a night's sleep and then back home on the train on Fr...

YouTube of Sky News  This is a short video of Sky News on Thursday morning. Rob is one of the guys that I'm helping. Apologies for my poor camera skills but he talks more about what we're trying to achieve. Donate here if you can please

Wow Thank you for all the positive feedback on Facebook / Twitter / WhatsApp - rather humbling tbh Please do not think that I'm doing anything brave or heroic I'm driving a van I'm not going to the Ukrainian Border - I'm flying into Krakow and going to a town in Poland to be 'a man on the ground' There are 4 maybe 5 families that we are working with - looking to get them through the visa process and back to the UK where they have sponsor families waiting to receive them. Lots of folk have asked about how to make a donation and I appreciate that Bleak Friday is probably not the best time to be asking for money.  If anyone is minded to do so - here's the link for the people that I'll be helping.  They've already managed to get one family here.   https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/easier-visas?utm_term=vAPgn79bq It also tells a bit about what they've done so far