TWO tradesmen from the Wellington area have driven about 1,100 miles to Lodz in Poland to deliver supplies for Ukrainian refugees.

Town builder Scott Cordy, who owns Cordy Construction, and Polish friend Kris Kaluzny, who owns carpentry business All In One and lives in Cotford St Luke, drove 25 hours in a van with donations from local people.

Scott said he ‘couldn’t just sit and do nothing while these poor Ukrainians were fleeing their homes to find some safety in Poland from the Russian invasion’.

Scott, who put out a plea on Facebook for donations, said: “It is truly amazing how generous people are to complete strangers. A steady stream of people was coming to our front door with donations for six days.

“I think our dogs must have got a sore throat from barking at all the visitors coming to our front door.”

He said one older woman turned up at his house with her disability walker full of heavy bags of all sorts of goodies - and she returned again with more donations over a couple of days.

“It’s just so amazing how quickly word gets out,” Scott said. “We live in an amazing, generous community. How lucky are we?”

Firms and individuals stepped forward, including Buildbase, which gave torches, boots, rubble sacks and paper; Lou’s Sweets & Treats collected donations including sweets, nappies, food, medicine and toiletries; and The Beauty Room gave a large sum of cash and food.

Conway Cladding donated food and cash; P & C Cars gave cash; and Taunton & Wellington Pensioners donated a large sum of money.

Odette’s Tea Rooms gave money; A J Dyke Roofing donated food and money towards travelling costs; Oaktree Court nursing home gave new duvets; and Jurston Barn donated food, towels and toiletries.

One anonymous donor gave £500 to pay for a bigger van and the Polish supermarket in Taunton offered to fill any remaining van space with food.

Scott said it was quite emotional when he and Kris dropped off the donations and both felt happy and proud to represent their community.

They and their families would like to say a big thank you to everyone who reached out to them and donated so generously.