Hero policeman to cycle 1,300 miles to Ukraine to provide aid for affected civilians
A former police officer is planning to cycle 1,300 miles to Ukraine in support of people displaced by Russia’s invasion.
Tom Harrison will cycle to Lviv, Ukraine, from his home in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, to raise money for the United Humanitarian Fund (UHF), a non-profit organisation which aims to help civilians in Ukraine.
The 47-year-old intends to make the journey to send a message of hope to Ukrainians plighted by the Russian war.
“I wanted to actually go to Ukraine to show some support,” Harrison said, “To actually go there and say, ‘Hey, you’re not alone’, we are thinking of you.”
He estimates his journey will take two weeks with a rest day in the middle to reach Lviv on September 22.
“In the first week, I’ll be averaging about 85 to 90 miles a day, but in the second week, I’ll be doing more like 95 to 100 miles a day,” he said.
No stranger to challenges, the superhuman mobile supervisor walked the London Marathon backwards last year, and in 2017 crawled the 26.2-mile event dressed as a gorilla.
“It will be hard but the more of it you do, the more your body and brain just get used to it, and it never becomes easy but it just becomes more normal,” Harrison added.
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During his journey, Harrison intends to stay with the Ukrainian diaspora, which the UFH hopes to put him in contact with.
He said: “These are Ukrainians who had to flee the country at the start of the war and are living in places like Poland, Germany, and Holland.”
The ex-officer initially intended to cycle to Kyiv, but after checking the Foreign Office website for guidance, it was advised that he should not travel there as it is too dangerous.
“It really brings it home that if it’s too dangerous for me to go there, what about all the poor people who actually live there?” he said.
Harrison added: “I think it’ll be quite emotional because of the effort that it would have taken to get there, but also I’ll almost feel what the country is going through, and then suddenly I’m a part of it.
“That is different to being an outside observer.”
So far, Harrison has raised £1,805 of his £5,000 target and his fundraiser can be viewed here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/bike2ukraine