A woman who is helping refugees at the Poland/Ukraine border with her boyfriend and brother has shared the heartbreak of witnessing people fleeing from conflict.
Vanessa Grundy, 27, from Birkenhead, her boyfriend Alex Donnelly, 27, and brother Mike Grundy, 29, wanted to help those fleeing from Ukraine following the invasion by Russia.
The group have worked in Ukraine since 2015 for DEC Camp, a children's camp, whose main office is based in Kyiv, and have made many friends from the country.
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Vanessa said when the group watched what was unfolding in Ukraine they felt "helpless" and wanted to do something.
So they decided to fundraise money to be able to buy items to take to the Polish/Ukraine border to help refugees.
They then planned to transport as many people as they could to safe accommodation in Krakow.
Thanks to generous donations on their GoFundMe page, Vanessa, Mike and Alex all managed to hire a coach to take people on the Poland/Ukraine border to Krakow.
Vanessa said when they arrived to the refugee area, they were shocked to see so many people.
Speaking the ECHO, she said: "When we got here we bought so many supplies at the equivalent of a Costco and we went to the warehouse.
"Because the amount of donations we had as well we managed to get a coach instead of a minibus, which was the original plan, and yesterday we went to the border for the first time.
"We went into the refugee area, it's like a reception area, and it was just camp bed, after camp bed.
"Full of children, babies, pets, women, elderly people and you can't imagine what they're going through at all.
"They have to come here with bare minimum, just what they could grab from their homes and wait at the border for three plus days in the snow."
However, the 27-year-old said they managed to help dozens of children and their families to safety.
Vanessa added: "We just spoke to as many people as we could and see if anyone needed to come to Krakow.
"We managed to fill the bus. We had a seven month pregnant woman on with us, we had over 16 tiny children aged from two up to 14 with their parents and their grandparents.
"We also had a family from Azerbaijan, we're still actually helping them now because they want to get to Baku.
"They came from the east in Ukraine, so one of the most affected areas, so we're still helping them now.
"When we brought them back we got them all in safe accommodation and we have been planning there onward travel.
"Some of them are heading to Germany, some of them are going to another town not far from Krakow.
"Then we're helping them with long-term accommodation."
Vanessa also shared her friends journey to the Poland/Ukraine border, who had to live in the metro while sheltering from the "bombs" and "sirens" in Kyiv.
The 27-year-old said: "In Krakow there are constant patrols of US army so they must be doing deliveries back to the border themselves.
"I have actually met more Ukrainians here then Polish people, that's how many people have come in.
"My friend was telling me about her journey from her hometown to the border.
"It took her five days, she was living in the metro for the first few days. She constantly heard the sirens and the bombs going off Kyiv.
"She decided she needed to leave but she had to leave her family behind, which is just devastating."
The group hope to keep helping as many people as possible for as long as possible and hope to fundraise more.
To donate to the GofundMe page, please click here.
