A convoy of horse lorries led by Charlie Mann and Oisin Murphy will be heading to Poland on 10 April delivering much needed aid to Ukrainian refugees
Retired trainer Charlie Mann will be leading a convoy of horseboxes carrying aid to Ukrainian refugees in Poland on 10 April next month and will be joined by champion jockey Oisin Murphy. The lorries will be filled with items desperately needed by Ukrainian refugees including sleeping bags, food, water, hygiene and medical supplies. They will also be taking horse feed, veterinary supplies and a vet too. They have contacts in Ukraine and Poland who are keeping them up to date with most urgent needs and requirements.
The drive will take approximately 22 hours to the polish border where they will deliver the goods directly. A P McCoy OBE along with local businesses including Lambourn Racehorse Transport have pledged their support.
Mann employed Kyryl Shvetsov a Ukrainian native as head lad for many years. Mann said: “His mother is in Odessa and his sister is in Russia and we had to do something.
“I could give a charity £1,000 but you don’t feel like you’re doing anything. Hopefully this is more and it might make a difference to somebody. Przemysl, where we’re going, is near Lviv, which is getting bombed. They need tinned food, dry food, medical stuff, sleeping bags.
“[Vet] James Main is with us, so we’ll take some food to feed the horses and we may take horses from Ukraine and place them around Europe as we’ll have empty boxes coming back.”
To donate to the Racing to Help Ukraine convoy visit their website here.