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On Sunday 17 March Bishop Debbie visited Towcester Deanery and celebrated Eucharist with the congregation at St Bartholomew's Greens Norton.
During the service Bishop Debbie prayed for and blessed two drivers who will be taking the next ambulance full of aid from the Tove Benefice to Ukraine, part of a committed campaign of support since March 2022.
This humanitarian endeavour has been facilitated by Oleh Naida, a Ukraine national who is temporarily living in Towcester with his family after they fled their country when it was invaded and has included the donation of multiple 4x4 pickups and 2 ex-NHS ambulances- both of which remain in active service with paramedic teams to this day.
The small team of drivers are now set to complete the 1350 mile drive to Lviv once more following the purchase of a further ambulance, where it will be handed over to their trusted Ukrainian aid volunteer who will take it onward to a paramedic team in Mikolaiv, some 550+ miles further south and close to the frontline. The ambulance will be filled with medical and rehabilitation aid which has been donated locally. These items will aid the treatment and recovery of wounded soldiers in Mikolaiv veterans hospital.
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In addition to completing the ambulance drive, the team are arranging for trailers to take the more bulky donated hospital equipment to Ukraine and are donating £2000 to the Lviv based rehabilitation charity Metta. Metta, organise professionally supported rehabilitation therapy trips for military veterans and bereaved families in the Carpathian Mountains. During these trips, individuals are encouraged to join hikes and connect with nature as a start of their healing process.
We wish them well on their travels and thank them for the warm welcome to Towcester.