Kingston Barns

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An exceptional barn conversion that will offer luxurious self-catering accommodation for the most di
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19/05/2022

The journey ...

Cambridge to Hannover 550 Miles
Hannover to Berlin 178 Miles
Berlin to Warsaw 358 Miles
Warsaw to Lublin 108 Miles
Lublin to Zamosc 54 Miles
Zamosc to Hrebenne 40 Miles
TOTAL 1288 MILES

19/05/2022

You don't get this on the M25.

19/05/2022

Handing over the Ambulance to Dr Valentin from A A Shalimov National Institute of Surgery and Transplantology, Kyiv.

19/05/2022

Trying to make sense of Ukrainian customs

19/05/2022

Ukrainian boarder

19/05/2022

Polish side of the Ukrainian boarder.

19/05/2022

Nearly full, just room for a few more nappies!

19/05/2022

Waiting to go through the tunnel

19/05/2022

Kingston Barns to Ukraine

The Main Cast
DK61 AS0 – The trusty refurbished NHS Ambulance
Martin & Nick – Ambulance No.1 drivers
Vitalii & Anatoli – Ukrainian drivers of Ambulances No. 2 & No. 3
Pier & Estefania – Royal Papworth surgeons and contacts for many medical supplies
Darren & Kirsty – Kingston Barns team for documentation, organisation, ambulance loading etc.
AJW Distribution – Principal sponsor
Plus, many donations of time, money and much needed supplies from the local community.

The Plan
To head off with the 3 ambulances from Cambridge to Ukraine picking up further medical supplies and donations on route!
Sounds simple!
Problem, our ambulance needed TLC to get there without breaking down. Despite heroic efforts of AG Motors, Papworth, our departure was delayed.
Simple catch up with ambulances 2 & 3 on route – say Berlin.

Friday the 13th Aim to be in Berlin for the Night
Departure from Kingston Barns, leaving at 2:30am, easy get to the tunnel in two hours, a freight crossing, apparently a decommissioned ambulance cannot go as a passenger vehicle.
Allowing for the crossing, time difference should be on the road in France by 7am at the latest.
First problem M2 closed so a very slow diversion caused a long delay.
Second problem, freight crossing slower than a passenger one so another delay.
Third problem, French customs picked on our old ambulance, getting very attached to her by now, to be inspected. Using lots of sign language and very little French, managed to persuade them there is no value in the donations that are being given to the Ukrainians. So instead of being on the road in France by 7am it was after 10am.
No problems, good roads and we would make up the time.
Wrong - France, Belgium and Holland, good roads and no further delays but as for the Germans!
I will never again complain about the roadworks on our motorways, we are not in the same league as the Autobahn roadworks. By 5pm it was clear there was no chance of making Berlin, I inform Vitalii and Anatoli we would not be joining them in Berlin for dinner and settle for a stop in Hannover, still a few miles away but doable.
Looking for a hotel in Hannover we thought great find one just off the motorway, pulled in only to find it was an old peoples home not a hotel.
Nick is not sure the guy on the balcony has got over the sight of an ambulance pulling into the carpark and the old gentleman is still trying to find which one of his friends is missing!

Arrived at the hotel at 8:10pm only to be told the restaurant closed at 8:30pm so no chance for a shower and leisurely drink before dinner. But we did manage some food and much needed beer before heading to our rooms for an early night.
After 18 hours on the road, sleep came easy.

Saturday the 14th Aim to be in Warsaw this evening
As we were leaving the hotel early, no time for breakfast, but we did get given a packed lunch for our journey. This was very useful and provided breakfast, lunch, and all sorts of snacks in between.
Its amazing how much better you feel after a good night’s sleep, even the ambulance seemed to appreciate its night of rest in the Aldi carpark, as the hotel garage was too small for her.
So, the intention today was to meet up with Vitalii and Anatoli, the drivers of ambulances 2 & 3, in Berlin. But the vagaries of different sat navs and perhaps a bit of user error, meant that this latest meet up was missed, so it was agreed to push on and meet up in Warsaw.
No roadworks today and good roads made for an easy drive to Warsaw arriving at 7pm. Communication with the UK team, namely Kirsty, managed to book ahead a hotel. Being a Saturday in a popular city meant we could only get the 4 ½ star Sofitel – never mind we deserved a bit of luxury.
Arriving in an ambulance has its advantages. Pulling up at the front door prompted the concierge to run out and say have we been called?
This was surprising as it is an English ambulance being driven by two dishevelled guys in casual clothes not a uniform. However, we explained our route to Ukraine and staying in the hotel this evening. Although the car park was full, he found us two disabled parking bays and promised to keep an eye on the ambulance overnight.
Being in the centre of this old city it seemed appropriate to have a walk around and enjoy a very relaxed beer and found a nice restaurant.

Sunday 15th Aim to deliver ambulance to Ukraine
Early start and head off to the airport to hire a car and book a hotel for this evening.
With me driving the ambulance and Nick following in the hire car our destination was in a town called Zamosc to finally rendezvous with Vitalii and Anatoli.
It did not all go to plan. Nick and I got separated, my sat nav took me to a building site not the garage we aimed to meet up. Finally, after much chasing around in cars we all got together and headed off to fill all the ambulances with more donations made locally.
With all the ambulances full to bursting, the next destination was the border crossing at Hrebenne.
You like to think that three humanitarian ambulances would be given a “fast track” through customs. I have never seen so much bureaucracy, paperwork and document stamping. I naively thought an hour at the most to clear passport control and customs to get from Poland to Ukraine but actually it took 2 ½ hours. Finally, I handed over the keys to Dr Valentin who took the ambulance to A. A. Shalimov National Institute of Surgery and Transplantology in Kyiv. The ambulances will be used to carry wounded soldiers from the frontline to the hospital for treatment.
In addition, Dr Valentin asked if we minded where our donations went to or are we happy to leave it to him to decide who needed them most. Agreeing with him that a small hospital near Kyiv was a good destination for all the much-needed supplies.
So having got the Ukrainian stamp in my passport I now needed to get back to Poland. Again, being naïve I thought that it would be possible to walk back using the pedestrian crossing, unfortunately this was closed, and the Ukrainian guards insisted that I needed to cross in a car.
Fortunately, Vitalii had not driven off yet, so he knocked on the window of a car that was occupied by a Ukrainian couple heading for Poland and I joined them for the crossing.
Polish passport control is not much better than Ukraine. So, after 1 ½ hours in the back of a Ukrainian car with a couple who did not speak English, I finally got back to Nick and the hire car. By this time, it was 10 at night. The drive back to the hotel in Warsaw was 4 hours and by the time we had returned the hire car it was after 3am – another late night.
Monday 15th
An easy day today, sightseeing in the city of Warsaw in the morning and a flight home to Luton.

Summary
Weeks ago, myself and Dr Pierluigi Costanzo, a consultant at Papworth Hospital, talked about doing something positive for Ukraine.
Estefania, also a doctor at Papworth put us in touch with Anatoli and Vitalii from Cambridge 4 Ukraine.
The word got around, and donations flooded in.
An ambulance was purchased, serviced, and then loaded with all the boxes of donations.
So, with everybody’s help it was finally handed over to Dr Valentin in Ukraine.
We think that is very positive and a big thank you to all who donated and helped with the journey!

19/04/2022

Thank you so much for all the donations, we have been overwhelmed by the generosity!
We have slightly extended the time and will be taking donations at Kingston Barns (CB23 2NP) until the end of this week so please keep them coming in!

12/04/2022

Hopefully you will have seen the photos of Vitalli and Anatolii heading off from Kingston Barns in the old NHS ambulance full of donations and much needed medical supplies. They estimate ferry crossing fuel etc will cost £1000, this has been covered by donations to Kingston Barns.

They will be meeting up with Dr Maksime on the border between Slovakia and Ukraine, they will leave the ambulance and fly home ready for another trip.

Dr Maksime is arranging for the ambulance to be driven to Mariupol where it will be used at a field hospital. The continuing atrocities being carried out by Putin’s thugs, you cannot call them soldiers, gives rise to much needed support. The Ukrainians are proud people and the word from the soldiers being treated by Dr Maksime is that they will do their own fighting but desperately need the “tools” for the job. Clearly we cannot provided them with weapons so the next best thing supplies that are in short supply at the front line.

One full load of donations and medical supplies is already on it’s way with more waiting at the Barns for suitable transport. Our original idea was to head off with a van, but that would mean returning empty. Following the initiative of Vitalli and Anatolii our aim is now to provide an ambulance as well as the donations.

After covering the cost of the first trip we still have over £3000 towards the cause, we are aware that a lot of people have already donated in kind and financially, but for such a worthwhile cause hopefully more can be raised.

Later this month a fund raiser will be held at the Barns but in the interim any donations will be gratefully received. If you contact myself, or [email protected] or kirsty@kingstonbarns .co.uk we can provide an account for any bank transfers.

Kind regards
Martin

11/04/2022

****UPDATE****

We’d like to start by a massive thanks to everyone that has got involved and helped so far in the space of a week, we have raised over £4,000 & had loads of amazing donations that are vital!

When we started our mission to help Ukraine we never expected it to evolve how it has!

This morning we sent off urgent medical supplies from In an old NHS ambulance being driven by Ukrainian nationals Vitalli & Anatolli that are from they leave tonight to drive the supplies right into Ukraine and the Ambulance will be dropped off & used in Ukraine.

There is still time to donate and with the overwhelming support we may even refocus our efforts from simply driving to the border with supplies to get an Ambulance filled with supplies that can be used to treat people where it matters 🇺🇦

Thankyou again and keep following for updates in the next few days as the guys head direct to Ukraine ❤️

31/03/2022

***Donation collection point at Kingston Barns ***
We need your help for the people of Ukraine!
A van containing medical supplies will be going directly to medical staff in Ukraine. There is still space for other items so donations to fill the van will be greatly received!

The following items would be very welcome

First aid supplies including plasters, bandages
Toiletries
Sanitary products
Milk formula for babies
Baby bottles
Tissues
Hand sanitiser
Nappies and wipes
Blankets
Sleeping bags
Power banks

Please drop to Kingston Barns, Bourn Road, Kingston, Cambridge, CB23 2NP.

Thank you in advance for your help!!

13/10/2021

Kingston Barns is an exceptional barn conversion with self catering holiday accommodation. Last minute bookings now available, please contact us on [email protected]

23/07/2021

Due to a last minute cancellation we have availability the first week in August for up to 4 guests. For more information please contact us on [email protected]

Address

Bourn Road, Kingston
Cambridge
CB232NP

Website

http://www.kingstonbarns.co.uk/

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Kingston Barns is an exceptional barn conversion with self catering holiday accommodation. Last minute bookings now available, please contact us on [email protected]