As Freemasonry starts to wind down for the summer, many Freemasons take the opportunity to relax, unwind, take holidays and prepare for the start of the new Masonic year, this isn’t the case for Bro. Ifty Hassan of Glamorgan Lodge, No.36. Bro. Ifty will be part of a group of volunteers heading to Ukraine to supply them with much-needed Aid.
We caught up with Ifty before his departure;
“I have volunteered with the charity Hope and Aid Direct (H&AD) previously, taken long-term projects to Kosova and have kept in touch with them. I liked their ethos of taking long-term self-sustainable projects to those in need, giving them the tools to build their independence and removing their need to be reliant on aid. Hope and Aid Direct has been developing projects for over 20 years in different parts of the world, mainly across Europe.
Hope and Aid Direct have many volunteers that reach out and explore corporate support and this project came about through one of these arrangements. This specific trip will be three lorries and one minibus. The charities head office is situated in Essex. Some of the volunteers have been working all week collecting donations and preparing the lorries for departure. The minibus will be taking Whitbread’s PR company to document the trip.
The journey itself will take place on the 13th of July, leaving Chelmsford at 08:00hrs for the long arduous journey covering many miles and overnight stops including many countries on the route such as France, Belgium, Germany, arriving at Krowniki 32 in Poland a few miles from the Ukrainian border.
Every volunteer is fully committed and prepared to undertake their costs for the trip (fuel, food etc) to ensure the charity’s focus is solely on aid. We will do supermarket shopping and have a little camping stove to cook for ourselves en route.
We will all be taking sleeping bags and sleeping in the back of our lorries.”