War in Ukraine: A1 Transport transports two lorryloads of aid

Rotary Club of Enniskillen helping to box the items and place onto pallets.

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter, Jisbinder Sembhi – Director of A1 Transport NI Ltd – explained the process: “On March 8, and a week beforehand, we put out a call to say that we were going to send a truck to Ukraine.

“Initially, the people that were involved were people at A1 Transport, the Rotary Club of Enniskillen and then anybody else in Co. Fermanagh who wanted to contribute towards it.”

People collecting aid.

Members of the Rotary Club of Enniskillen didn’t just donate goods, but also helped with loading the lorry, he said. “They spent three days with us here, packing all the stuff and preparing it.”

Calling Jisbinder, who is a member of Rotary, the “leader” of the Ukraine aid transportation initiative, Catherine Robinson, President of the Rotary Club of Enniskillen, added: “With Rotary being a humanitarian and worldwide organisation, when somebody calls for help, you have no doubt about it that from Rotary and Rotarians, you will get help.

People collecting aid.

“As members we all just pulled in behind [Jisbinder] and assisted with the packaging and processing, labelling and counting everything that had been donated, to make sure it could go on as a secure load.”

Lorry with aid from Northern Ireland arriving in Warsaw, Poland to be transhipped for East Ukraine.

Supplies were also lifted from many different drop-off sites across Fermanagh.

“The Ulster Unionist Party, Tom Elliott, had a part in this as well because the Polish shop [Polski Sklep BASIA] in Enniskillen had overflowed and they were using the UUP offices to house some of the stuff,” said Jisbinder.

When the lorry had been loaded with aid collected in Fermanagh, it travelled to Hope for Youth Ministries in Castlederg, another collection point.

The lorry was then filled out there before it continued its journey to Poland. On March 11, after travelling 1,630 miles, A1 driver, Robert O’Connor, along with an aid convoy, reached Warsaw in Poland.

War’s front line

“Our driver and vehicle were met by a team who off-loaded our supplies onto two Ukrainian vehicles,” said Jisbinder, noting that these vehicles then travelled to the war’s front line in Eastern Ukraine.

“Despite everything that is going on, the Ukrainian drivers welcomed our driver and took him into their truck and made him coffee and a sandwich,” he added.

The second load arriving in Warsaw, Poland.

At the end of March, a second lorryload of urgent aid was delivered to Ukraine by A1 Transport NI Ltd.

This cargo of food and medicine was put together by Ratoath College, Ben Madigan prep school, Irwin’s Bread, Jones Construction, Northern Ireland Water, Tayto Crisps Craigavon, Crust & Crumb, Rotary Club of Enniskillen, Lockwood Haulage, Maguire’s Shop Teemore, Howden Tools, Centra staff Derrylin, Ace Corrugated, Clogher Diocese Mothers’ Union, St. Macartin’s Cathedral, Enniskillen, A1 Transport and Encirc Glass Drivers.

“This trip would not have been possible without our generous sponsors Jones Construction, John Trimble, Ernco Group, Enniskillen Rugby Club, ABL Group, and two local political parties,” said Jisbinder.

People collecting aid.

On April 1, team A1 arrived in Warsaw with the second load. It was met by a Ukrainian vehicle and Henryk Podsiadly with his volunteers from The Christian Joy Foundation.

The goods were then transported and delivered to Rivne in Ukraine to be further distributed into the east.

“The people are so desperate for food, medicine and water and were truly grateful for the much needed supplies that we delivered,” said Jisbinder.”

The A1 team were also kindly given donations from local people. These were donated to a group of refugees comprising six families who had arrived in Warsaw from Mariupol, Ukraine.

A visit to a shelter where six families had just arrived from Mariupol.

A1 Transport driver Robert, who made both deliveries and then went on to visit the shelter where the people had just arrived from Mariupol, said: “Seeing the people’s faces, there are no words to describe the emotions, and it brought me to tears listening to them.

“Those people have absolutely nothing to go back to, and their only possessions were the clothes on their backs, and what family they had left.”

Praising the initiative and generosity of Jisbinder and his team, Lord Brookborough said: “It was a tremendous effort by him in particular, as an individual, and A1 Transport.

“They have joined so many others in Northern Ireland who are contributing to aid going to Ukraine and it is, as always, an example of the generosity of the people in Northern Ireland, and Fermanagh in particular.”