Actions Beyond Words & Volunteer Firefighters deliver fire engines and aid to Ukraine amid continued conflict.
Lincolnshire, UK. July 18th 2025 – Volunteer firefighters from East Anglia have returned from a two-week humanitarian mission to Ukraine, delivering emergency aid to frontline communities affected by ongoing conflict.
The team, working in lead by the humanitarian non profit, Actions Beyond Words, successfully delivered two fully reconditioned fire engines, emergency medical equipment, and critical supplies to communities affected by the war.
The fire appliances, previously in service with the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service, were donated and refurbished for redeployment to the frontlines of humanitarian need.
While stationed on the outskirts of Kyiv, the team was present during one of the most severe missile and drone attacks on the city since the start of the invasion. A ballistic missile was intercepted in close proximity to their accommodation, underscoring the risks faced by aid workers operating in the region.
“It was a stark reminder of the reality people face daily in Ukraine,” said Chris Standley, an active watch manager, ABW volunteer and fire logistics lead on the mission. “Yet despite the risk, we were focused on delivering what we came for—hope, equipment, and solidarity and supporting our firefighter brothers and sisters so many miles from home.”
Simon Massey, founder of Actions Beyond Words, greeted the firefighting team in Poland, where the non-profit operates a 12-bed volunteer base near the Medyka border crossing! Entirely built through donations, the facility serves as a critical staging point for cross-border operations and in this case, a well needed rest before Simon jumped onboard to coordinate the mission from the cab of one of the fire trucks.
“While this conflict has faded from some headlines, the need on the ground is more urgent than ever. These deliveries aren’t just symbolic—they are strategic, they are needed, they are co-ordinated with local aid organisations and local government, and they save lives.” said Simon.
During the aid mission, the team also responded as first on the scene on the outskirts of Kyiv to a serious road traffic collision, delivering emergency care having already suppressed a wild grass fire in the Carpathians, deploying the newly donated engine before it reached its final destination.
“These situations highlight just how urgently this equipment is needed,” said Tom Mitchell, firefighter and Chair of Actions Beyond Words. “The fact that the vehicles were already saving lives before they even reached the communities they were intended for speaks volumes.”
The latest delivery marks the third and fourth vehicles sent by the organisation to Ukraine since January, just the latest aid package since the beginning of the war.
This international effort was made possible through support from Actions Beyond Word’s global supporters including WDRAC Japan, whose funding underwrote this entire operation, and the Pomerleau Family Foundation (Burlington, USA), a long-time backer of the charity’s crisis response programmes.
The convoy covered nearly 3,000 miles, driving through Europe and across Ukraine to reach key locations in Mizhhirya (Western Ukraine) and Zmiiv (Kharkiv Oblast, Northern Ukraine), which have suffered significant depletion of their emergency service capacity, with modern equipment requisitioned for military use.
The local community of Mizhhirya, which continues to receive evacuees from active conflict zones which fill their hospitals, has received the new engine. This new delivery replaces a vehicle that was no longer serviceable.
In Zmiiv, the donated equipment will help establish a newly built fire station, extending protection to remote rural villages in this high-risk region just 39 miles from the Russian border.
The humanitarian aid also included vital fire fighting gear donated via Operation Florian with value of over £40,000, a UK-based organisation specialising in supporting emergency services in crisis regions as well as trauma medical supplies. The fire crews also delivered training with their Ukrainian colleagues to ensure the vehicles could be immediately deployed, with crews adopting the new equipment with full understanding of using it to maximum effect.
Actions Beyond Words are actively fund raising for their next projects in September, more engines and more aid.
ENDS