A FORMER Helensburgh resident has been hitting the road to offer his support to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

David Wright has been transporting medical supplies from the UK to the war-torn country.

The courier undertook his first trip to Ukraine at the end of March, travelling through the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland.

He delivered goods to a village at the Ukrainian border for onward distribution, before carrying on to Lviv where he made contact with people transporting items to the front line.

Following this, David, who now lives in Essex, spent the rest of the week collecting goods from Krakow and delivering them to warehouses for sorting.

The driver also made contact with two American charities with a view to co-operating, before heading back out to Poland for a second trip earlier this month.

David’s efforts have been supported by sponsor Bill Wright, who is also a former Burgh resident.

Bill said: “It’s an admirable thing to do in today’s climate in these war zones.

“I’m an ex-army man and ex-Scots Guardsman. I’m very concerned and interested about the position in Ukraine and I wanted to help people.

“I’ve had experience before during the Bosnian crisis years ago.

“I helped with humanitarian aid through the US Army. I was a preferred haulier and supplied vehicles to take humanitarian aid from Germany.”

“David is highly experienced class one driver – he knows what he’s doing.

“When you are doing these things, you need to know all about border crossings and the dangers. You can’t just jump into a truck and say, ‘I’m going to Ukraine’.

“You need plan a route, get the ferry, watch which countries you go through, make sure you have enough money to buy fuel. It’s quite an ordeal.”

David has made good contacts during his time in Ukraine, and even sat down with the mayor of Kyiv for tea during his first trip.

His efforts have also received support from the people he has encountered on the journey through Europe.

Bill added: “He was travelling through Germany and, because his van is decorated as being aid for Ukraine, people were stopping him and giving him €50 to help.

“It just shows you how compassionate people are.

“This boy has given up a lot of his time and money to go and do this. He’s met a lot of people and he’s saved a lot of people.”

Those who would like to support David’s efforts through donation or sponsorship should contact silver.roadways@aol.co.uk.