From Macclesfield to Kharkiv: The Volunteers Who Keep Driving East

By Matthew Parish

Monday 28 September 2026

There is something wonderfully improbable about Macclesfield Ukrainian Aid. In February 2022, as millions of Ukrainians fled westwards before the advancing Russian army, a family and a collection of volunteers in a prosperous market town in Cheshire decided that they could not simply watch events unfold on television. They began collecting whatever they thought might help.

Four and a half years later, they are still at it. What began amidst piles of donated toothbrushes, sanitary products, clothing and medical supplies has evolved into a remarkably sophisticated volunteer logistics operation, moving vehicles and aid from Britain across Europe and deep into Ukraine.

According to its current figures, Macclesfield Ukrainian Aid has processed more than £14 million worth of medical and humanitarian donations since the full-scale invasion began. Its volunteers have completed 62 journeys to Ukraine, covered more than 300,000 miles and delivered 236 vans, pickup trucks and 4x4 vehicles, which were themselves then donated for use in Ukraine. The organisation says that more than 150 active volunteers have participated in its activities.

The organisation is now formally constituted as Macclesfield Ukrainian Aid Community Interest Company, a non-profit organisation registered in England. But the institutional description rather misses the point. MUA remains an essentially volunteer enterprise, built around people prepared to find vehicles, repair them, fill them with useful equipment and drive them across a continent into a country at war.

Its origins are also more personal than its present scale might suggest. John Hancock’s wife Anne discovered only in 2012 that her father, who had always described himself as Polish, was in fact Ukrainian. The family traced relatives to a village outside Lviv and began visiting Ukraine. When Russia’s first war against Ukraine began in 2014, members of the Ukrainian side of the family served in the Armed Forces. The Hancocks began helping in small ways.

Then came 24 February 2022.

The Lviv Herald met John Hancock in Kharkiv, more than 2,000 miles from Macclesfield and within easy reach of the front line. What follows is our conversation, edited for clarity and length while preserving Mr Hancock’s answers and views.

Matthew Parish: John, could you begin by telling us how Macclesfield Ukrainian Aid came into existence in those extraordinary days immediately following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022?

John Hancock: We have family in Ukraine, in a small village outside Lviv, and we had always followed Ukrainian news very closely for that reason. My son and daughter started Macclesfield Ukrainian Aid as a response to the flood of refugees that we saw crossing the border in the early days of the war. We felt that we simply couldn’t stand by and do nothing.

MP: What do you remember about those first few days in Macclesfield? Who turned up to help, what were people bringing you and how did you transform that outpouring of public generosity into aid that could actually be useful in Ukraine?

JH: It was quite chaotic in those early days. Some of the aid coming in wasn’t particularly relevant, but what we did have was enormous goodwill in Macclesfield. At one point we had a team of nearly 80 people and we were actually operating a two-shift system just to sort the aid.

The problem was that, to be honest, we had absolutely no idea how we were going to get it to the Ukrainian border.

MP: Anne’s connection with Ukraine seems to have been particularly important. Could you explain that connection and how it helped you understand what Ukrainians actually needed, rather than simply what people in Britain imagined they might need?

JH: Anne’s connection was through her father. It wasn’t until 2012 that we discovered that Anne’s father was actually Ukrainian. He had always claimed to be Polish and had been very, very secretive about it.

Then, more or less by chance, we discovered in 2012 that Andrei was Ukrainian and found his address in Ukraine. We visited and, through that, got to know the family.

When what you might call the slow war began in 2014, several members of the family were serving in the Ukrainian army. As a result, we started helping them a little: money, but also the sorts of things soldiers actually need, such as a decent pair of socks or a change of underwear.

When the full-scale war began in 2022, we were flooded with aid. The quantity of toothbrushes and women’s sanitary products was almost absurd, but we had absolutely no way of getting any of it into Ukraine.

Eventually we found ways. A volunteer who was a business contact in Ukraine had two vans donated to him, so we started filling those vans with aid. My son, two other volunteers and I then set off and drove them to the Polish border. We handed the vans over for use by soldiers and, from the vehicle side, it developed from there.

Initially, we put the aid into vehicles and somehow managed to get the vehicles donated as well.

MP: Macclesfield Ukrainian Aid has evolved from a collection point into quite a sophisticated logistics operation. How did that happen, and what have you had to learn about vehicles, customs, transport, procurement and moving aid across Europe into a country at war?

JH: A lot. A lot. But we’re really quite good at it now.

Recently, for example, we’ve managed to procure two loads of fishing nets – very heavy deep-sea nets – which have been sent to the Ukrainian army and to bases around Ukraine.

I’ve now got contacts with logistics companies in Ukraine. Nothing really fazes us any more. We can do the customs declarations. We can do the logistics. We can just do it all, really.

But it has all been learnt by trial and error.

MP: Vehicles have become one of the most distinctive parts of your work. How do you identify a suitable pickup, van, ambulance or 4x4 in Britain, prepare it for Ukraine and decide where it should ultimately go?

JH: The vans we obtain are usually mechanically quite sound. We have a workshop in England that checks all the vehicles beforehand, services them and makes sure they’re fit to make the journey.

As for deciding where they go, that’s really a question for my wife. Anne decides who gets the vehicles, not me, so I’ll step away from that one!

MP: Your organisation now reports having delivered more than 200 vehicles and processed many millions of pounds’ worth of humanitarian and medical assistance. Looking back at the modest operation with which you started in 2022, did you ever imagine it would reach this scale?

JH: No. Absolutely not.

I never thought the war would go on this long. I have to admit that I didn’t think Putin would invade Ukraine in the first place. I was completely naïve about it. The length of the war has completely surprised me.

But I will say this: we have a group of very, very committed volunteers. There is a real core of 20 to 30 people who volunteer extremely regularly, and we will be with Ukraine until the end, whatever that end is.

MP: How do requests reach you from Ukraine? Suppose somebody says, “We urgently need an ambulance.” How does that request eventually become an ambulance arriving in Ukrainian hands?

JH: The requests usually come through WhatsApp and email. Charities and groups that we work with in Ukraine ring us and ask us. Constantine here in Kharkiv, for example, has asked us for vehicles.

We have a list of about 20 or 30 people waiting for vehicles at the moment, so matching people with vehicles is never the problem. We simply can’t get enough vehicles.

MP: We are speaking here in Kharkiv, a city that has experienced this war particularly intensely. What relationship has Macclesfield Ukrainian Aid developed with Kharkiv and the wider eastern regions of Ukraine?

JH: In Kharkiv our principal partner is Constantine. We’ve also sent a number of vehicles and aid to Dnipro, including to the army chaplain there.

The people we tend to work with are charities that are helping the Ukrainian army as well.

MP: How far east have you and your volunteers personally travelled? What have been some of the more difficult or dangerous journeys?

JH: The furthest east I’ve personally been is Kharkiv. I’ve also been to Zaporizhzhia and Odesa.

When I’ve been here the skies have actually been very quiet, so I’ve been very lucky. Some of our other volunteers have had Shahed drones fly past their hotel windows, which was a frightening experience for them.

Generally speaking, though, we’ve not encountered too many problems.

MP: Is there one particular delivery, vehicle or Ukrainian recipient that has remained in your memory?

JH: The vehicle I remember most is vehicle number 225, the Jumbulance. I don’t know whether you’ve come across it, but it is an absolutely fantastic coach that had already been converted into an ambulance.

It is now working somewhere near Kramatorsk, I believe. What gave me particular pleasure recently was receiving a photograph showing one of our casualty evacuation vehicles parked alongside the Jumbulance.

MP: Presumably you’ve also seen vehicles you’ve delivered subsequently damaged, destroyed or simply worn out through intensive use. How does that affect volunteers who raised the money, found the vehicle, repaired it and drove it across Europe?

JH: A lot of the vehicles we send are end-of-life vehicles. We really make our money go as far as we possibly can.

If we had £10,000, for example, we’d expect to get at least three vehicles to Ukraine for that. We accept that if one of those vehicles lasts a year under the conditions Ukrainians are enduring, that’s a result.

We did have one vehicle that was destroyed the following week. That was quite disappointing.

But it doesn’t put us off helping. We carry on.

MP: How do you decide where the boundary lies between humanitarian assistance and assistance connected with Ukraine’s defence? You work with hospitals, medics and organisations operating in a wartime environment. Is that distinction always straightforward?

JH: It’s not straightforward at all, is it? Let’s face it.

We can’t supply weapons of war to the Ukrainian army. We simply can’t do that.

But can we supply a pair of socks to a soldier? A new pair of underpants, perhaps, or a new T-shirt, a uniform or a pair of boots? We’re quite happy to do that.

Is that humanitarian aid? On a strict interpretation, perhaps it isn’t. But in effect it is humanitarian aid, because those soldiers are human beings like the rest of us, and they need looking after.

MP: How do you ensure that equipment reaches the people for whom it was intended? Have you developed systems for checking your Ukrainian partners and documenting deliveries?

JH: All the aid that we pack onto the HGVs we send is itemised on a spreadsheet, and all that aid is signed for by somebody in Ukraine. It’s fully traceable.

When we pack a box in our units in Macclesfield, we put a number on it. That number identifies the person responsible for distributing it in Ukraine, and the shipment then has to be signed off through Ukrainian customs.

MP: One remarkable feature of Macclesfield Ukrainian Aid is the number of ordinary people prepared to give up their time and drive ageing vehicles thousands of miles across Europe. Who are these volunteers, and what motivates them?

JH: They’re typically retired people, because they have the time to do it, and they’re people who care deeply about social justice.

I would say that they tend to be liberal-minded people who believe in democracy and who believe that the injustice happening in Ukraine is something ordinary people should do something about.

MP: After more than four years of full-scale war, have you noticed what people sometimes call “Ukraine fatigue” in Britain? Has fundraising become harder?

JH: I don’t actually think fundraising is harder. We have to work harder at it, but I also think fundraising is an apprenticeship: you have to learn how to do it, and we’ve got better at it.

You can still raise money. It is hard work, but you have to keep doing it.

As for war fatigue with Ukraine, I very rarely meet anybody in Britain who doesn’t support Ukraine. Very rarely.

MP: You’ve encountered an enormous variety of Ukrainians through this work. What have those relationships taught you about Ukraine that you didn’t understand before February 2022?

JH: One thing that really sticks out is just how intelligent and resourceful Ukrainian people are.

There is no doubt in my mind that they are some of the most intelligent people in the world today.

MP: You’ve seen this war from an unusual perspective: not from Westminster or television studios, but from warehouses, workshops, border crossings, hospitals and the driver’s seat of vehicles heading east. What do you think British people still fail to understand about its reality?

JH: I think the vast majority of British people do understand the war. When I talk to people, they understand its reality.

What frustrates me is that people sometimes don’t see the bigger picture. They’re not abreast of the geopolitics. They’re too involved with their own little personal politics, and I find that frustrating.

MP: Finally, what has this experience done to you personally? After dozens of journeys, friendships with Ukrainians and years of organising aid around a war nobody expected to last this long, has it changed your understanding of Europe, Russia or Britain?

JH: No, it hasn’t actually. I always knew Europe was very bureaucratic. I fully realise the tragedy of Brexit now. And I was already well versed in what I regard as the horrendous mentality of Russia.

Has it turned me into a better person? I think it has.

I had a business and was very involved with that business before the war, but I longed to do something else. This has definitely filled that need.

I’m very proud of MUA. I’m very proud of everything we’ve done.

And I’m looking forward to the next four years, if that’s how long it takes.

From Cheshire to Ukraine

There is something revealing in Hancock’s observation that many of the people driving these vehicles are retired. Wars are normally described through armies, governments, weapons systems, budgets and diplomatic communiqués. Yet Ukraine’s resistance has also depended upon an enormous informal infrastructure of ordinary people who have decided that something happening thousands of kilometres away is nevertheless their concern.

Macclesfield Ukrainian Aid represents one small British manifestation of that phenomenon. A Ukrainian family connection led to a warehouse. The warehouse led to two vans. Two vans became convoys. Convoys became a network of workshops, donors, drivers, logistics companies and Ukrainian partners. Today the organisation says that 236 vehicles have made the journey and that more are required. (⁠Ukrainian Aid)

The economics are strikingly practical. MUA says that approximately £1,000 can cover the cost of transporting a vehicle to Ukraine, while £3,500–£5,000 can finance the purchase of a van, pickup or 4x4. A first-aid trauma kit costs about £139. These are sums at which individual donors, groups of friends, companies and community organisations can see a reasonably direct relationship between money given in Britain and equipment eventually being used in Ukraine. (⁠Ukrainian Aid)

There is also something distinctly British about the enterprise: old vans, workshops, spreadsheets, volunteers, WhatsApp messages, cups of tea, long motorway journeys and an apparently inexhaustible willingness to improvise. None of these things individually alters the course of a war. Collectively, repeated thousands of times across Europe and beyond, they form part of the civilian infrastructure that has sustained Ukraine through years few imagined would be necessary.

John Hancock says that Macclesfield Ukrainian Aid will remain with Ukraine “until the end, whatever that end is”. In Kharkiv, where the consequences of Russia’s invasion are impossible to regard as an abstraction, those words acquire a particular weight.

Supporting Macclesfield Ukrainian Aid

Macclesfield Ukrainian Aid continues to seek volunteers, donated vehicles and financial contributions. Those wishing to volunteer or otherwise become involved can find further information through the organisation’s ⁠official website and its ⁠volunteer information. Owners of vans, pickup trucks or 4x4 utility vehicles can also approach MUA about a vehicle donation through its ⁠vehicle donation page. (⁠Ukrainian Aid)

Readers wishing to support the organisation financially can do so through Macclesfield Ukrainian Aid’s ⁠official donations page, which provides current options for one-off and regular donations. At the time of publication, MUA says donations help finance trauma kits, electrical power supplies, the transport of vehicles to Ukraine and the purchase of vans, pickups and 4x4s. (⁠Ukrainian Aid)

Dr Matthew Parish interviewed John Hancock in Kharkiv for the Lviv Herald. The interview has been edited for clarity, grammar and length without altering the substance of Mr Hancock’s answers.