Alex Mackinnon, of Rushen Probus Club, has told us about an aid trip which he and fellow member John Watterson undertook to an orphanage in Poland to help out Ukrainian children.

The two Port St Mary residents drove a Renault Trafic van which had been filled with supplies gathered at St Andrews Church in Douglas.

The trip was organised under the initiative of the Joey Dunlop Foundation, which also arranged for two other cargo vans with drivers.

Among them was John Harris, a former friend of Joey Dunlop.

Mr Harris helped the late TT racer with his humanitarian work in Bosnia during the war in the 90s.

And Mr Watterson is a local trustee of the JDF.

Mr Mackinnon described how the atmosphere in Poznan was ‘relatively peaceful’, with much more activity being seen at the German border city of Frankfurt an der Oder, which has become a transit point for Ukrainian refugees entering the country.

He said that the German side was ‘as usual for Germany, pretty well organised’, adding that there were a lot of police around, and refugees arriving on every train that came in from the east.

Refugees leaving the train would head into the refugee centre within the station, where they would be given food and water, before then moving on to the Red Cross aid points outside.

‘I just thought to myself “this is pretty horrible”, but if we can help in any way then I’m glad we did it’, Mr Mackinnon added.

‘I think the Germans, with Angela Merkal having allowed refugees in years ago [during the 2015 migrant crisis], they’re more organised when it comes to dealing with influxes of people.

He explained how even the bar inside the station had been requisitioned entirely for refugee use.

‘I went in there to ask for a beer, and the bartender replied “only if you’re a refugee, if not we’ll just give you a banana!”,’ he said.

The saw scenes reminiscent of those on TV, such as refugees walking by with their cats and dogs – and so had brought pet food among the supplies in the van, in addition to the usual clothes, nappies and hygiene supplies.

In Poznan, Poland’s fifth largest city, over 40,000 refugees are said to have already arrived.

The large orphanage where they dropped off supplies had a Ukrainian flag outside, and was now home to both Polish orphans and Ukrainian war orphans.

‘When I was back in Edinburgh, my sister, who’s a retired doctor, was trying to run medical supplies into Ukraine – and that was much more difficult, the trip we did was very straightforward.

He added how grateful he was to Stena Line, which provided free transit from Harwich to the Hook of Holland.

Semi-retired and having worked internationally in the shipping industry, Mr Mackinnon said he had witnessed some global crises, such as ‘tanks on the street in Bangkok, and being moved away at the machine gun point during a time of martial law in Thailand.

‘When you’re younger you don’t really worry about it, but now it’s good to help out when you can’.