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Dec 2022

Last Updated: 22/12/2022

Community

Toys donated in Knaresborough reach Ukraine in time for Christmas

by Vicky Carr

| 23 Dec, 2022

Children in Ukraine enjoy their toys from the Harrogate district.

Toys donated by people in the Harrogate district have been distributed to children in Ukraine in time for Christmas.

Knaresborough man Bob Frendt drove a lorry filled with £30,000 of toys across Europe to ensure children in the war-torn country did not go without this festive period.

Now, he has received photos and videos of some of his toys being handed to youngsters for the country's independence day, with more to be opened for Christmas too.

He said:

"It's heartbreaking and it's wonderful. What can you say? Those kids would have nothing if we hadn't taken those toys over."

Bob appealed through the Stray Ferret for help to collect toys in the summer, and said he was overwhelmed by the support he received.

It included individual donations, as well as one anonymous businessman who offered to pay to fill the lorry with toys.

Mr Frendt set off in early November with the delivery, accompanied by his wife, Maureen, and they took the lorry over the border into Ukraine.

It was his sixth trip to eastern Europe since the Russian invasion in February. The previous visits had seen him take medical equipment to help treat Ukrainians injured in the war.

Knaresborough couple deliver Christmas toys for children in Ukraine

Donor to fill Knaresborough man's lorry with hundreds toys for Ukraine

Despite being retired as a lorry driver, Mr Frendt intends to complete the trip again next year and has already begun collecting goods to take with him.

He has several hundred surgical gowns collected from another organisation that did not need them, and last week bought a mobility scooter for a soldier who has lost both of his legs.

Bob and Maureen Frendt

Having bought much of it out of his own pocket, Mr Frendt is now hoping to get more support to enable him to fill his lorry again by March. He said:

"I've got a big bill coming for the truck - it needs new discs and pads on the front. The quote I've had is £630, then then MOT is £151. That's a bill for at least £800 in February.

"I saw a picture of the guy who had lost his legs on an ordinary chair. He was desperate for a mobility scooter, so I thought, 'right, I'll get one'.

"My winter fuel payment has come in handy for that, but I'm dreading the gas bill. I'm going to worry about it as and when, but it leaves me with less to buy things to take with me."

Mr Frendt is planning to organise a fundraising disco for Valentine's Day in the hope of raising money to buy more equipment, and funding the £2,500, six-day trip to Ukraine.

Anyone who would like to donate or help him can click here to send him an email.

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Toys donated in Knaresborough reach Ukraine in time for Christmas

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