A Salisbury train driver is taking holiday from his job to drop off supplies to Ukrainian refugees.

John Halliday, 43, a driver on South Western Railway, usually takes trains to and from Exeter, London and Southampton.

But tomorrow (Friday April 15) he will set off on a 2,500-mile journey to drive a van full of supplies to Ukrainian refugees on the Polish border.

He is driving a part of a group of volunteers from Cornwall, called Cornwall Sending Love to Ukraine.

Read more: SWR train driver to deliver aid to Ukrainian refugees

The group sent nine vans in March, and now the volunteer group has grown, John will be part of the next convoy of 13 vans of donations to reach the country on Easter Sunday (April 17).

The aid will be shared between three causes – the Warsaw Lions, the Polish Humanitarian Army, and an orphanage south of Warsaw.

John heard about the group, organised by a Cornish man called Darren Tait, from his brother, paramedic Paul Halliday.

He said: “I am so happy to be helping out and doing something. I work on the railway, I do not do much else.

“It is a great thing Darren is doing and I am glad to be a part of it.

“We are just looking for money, which will all be going towards getting us across the border and fulfil what we wanted to do.”

To donate, visit John’s GoFundMe page: gofundme.com/f/pjb78-ukraine-humanitarian-aid

Newsquest has pledged to donate proceeds from sales of some of its largest newspapers to the Red Cross DEC Ukraine Humanitarian appeal, which is dedicated to helping and saving those affected by this horrific and bloody war. We’re asking you to join us.

Please join us: justgiving.com/fundraising/therewithukraine 

Donations made via JustGiving and use of the JustGiving website will be subject to the JustGiving privacy policy https://www.justgiving.com/about/info/privacy-policy/privacy-policy-v30 and cookie policy https://www.justgiving.com/about/info/cookie-notice 

None of the donation will be collected by Newsquest. Financial transactions are with JustGiving to donate to the British Red Cross Society DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

In the unlikely event that the British Red Cross Society raise more money than can be reasonably and efficiently spent, any surplus funds will be used to help them prepare for and respond to other humanitarian disasters anywhere in the world.

For more information visit  https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/disaster-fund Charity Registration No. Eng/Wales 220949,Scot SC037738, IOM 0752, Jers430

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