‘I helped refugees and their pets fleeing Ukraine – sights at the border broke my heart’

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Alison Standbridge, 51, who runs Paws2Rescue in London, describes her five days at the Romania-Ukraine border as ‘surreal and heartbreaking’ after she volunteered at a monestary to help refugees and their pets

A woman is sharing the harrowing tales and heartbreaking moments she witnessed at the Ukraine border, after she volunteered herself to help deliver aid to refugees.

Alison Standbridge, 51, runs Paws2Rescue in London, and has been working with communities in Eastern Europe for nine years, supporting orphanages and impoverished villages as well as dog rescues.

On March 10, she travelled with her colleague Kelly McKenzie, 51, to their Romanian partner shelter, Adapostul de caini din Baia Mare, and volunteered at a local monastery in the mountains north of the Ukrainian border.

“One lady told her story that will always remain in our thoughts. She came over with her four children and broke down talking about her 19-year-old son who had to stay behind to fight,” Alison told The Mirror.

“I have a 19-year-old myself and it really hit home. She was so incredibly brave.”

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Alison and Kelly left England two weeks ago with five suitcases full of children’s toothbrushes, underwear, sanitary products, medicine and toys.

The pair travelled to The Hope for the Future Association monastery in the Romanian mountains, which accommodates 150 new refugees every day.

“The priest and volunteers told us exactly what they needed and we raised funds to cover the cost,” Alison said.

“We stopped at a local supermarket on the way and spent £1,000 on provisions, like pasta, rice, sunflower oil, tinned vegetables and dog food.”

Alison described the monastery as a “place of total serenity” and a “peaceful escape” from the devastation destroying thousands of families just miles away.

“We instantly entered a bubble of love, peace and silence, broke only by the smiling rescue dogs running to greet us,” she said.

They were met at the door by a “one in a million” volunteer named Gemma, who was “the most organised lady” Alison had ever met.

“She was over the moon to see the supplies we had brought, saying that food was running very low but God always heard them,” Alison explained.

Pets were welcomed with open arms at the monastery, meaning Alison and Kelly could get to work helping them with vaccinations, vet checks and pet passports.

“Many refugees spoke English and we used Google translate to chat too. We hugged and we cried and we listened to their traumatising stories,” Alison said.

The priest and volunteers at the monastery felt lucky to have so much help, and said a church in America was paying their electricity bills, and vans full of supplies were coming from Spain.

“They had a minibus to escort families that wanted to visit the local church and pray,” Alison said.

Alison and Kelly went with Zoo Taxi International volunteers to the Romania-Ukraine border to transport refugees and hand out donations.

“We saw people carrying pets in their coats – tortoises, rabbits, birds, cats and dogs. The lengths that people went to bring their animals was amazing,” Alison said.

She gave out hundreds of cat carriers to help these people transport their pets further on.

While she was there, the bombing of Ivano-Frankivsk took place just 150 miles away from their town.

Alison recalled distressing stories of families fleeing the war, and heard many stories of the husbands, sons and fathers that devastatingly couldn’t join them.

“One man wore an Italian flag draped over him and held a large photo of a lady he had arranged to meet at the border. The police told us that he’d been coming back day after day hoping she’d be there,” Alison said.

She gave out 400 teddies to refugee children and said she “didn’t realise the value of them” until she saw kids clutching them for comfort.

Speaking of the volunteers at the border, Alison said: “We have never met so many dedicated and caring people.”

On March 15, the pair returned home to the UK to continue fundraising for the monastery and rescue shelter.

“We are safely home but the horror that we felt and saw will remain in our hearts every day, and our support for these people and pets will continue on,” Alison said.

“While we played a small part in shopping, cooking and taking a van of donations, there is a huge team who do this every day and we are in awe at how they fit this in around their daily lives.

“Our heroes, Alex and Raimo, from our partner shelter at Adapostul de caini din Baia Mare endlessly make the very difficult trip weekly.

“It’s a real teamwork and we have people on the ground at all times.”

Paws2Rescue has vaccinated around 400 pets and donated 600 cat carriers to Ukrainian refugees so far.

Alison will continue to raise money and send out vans to Romania every two weeks with emergency supplies.

“We would like to offer a huge and truly heartfelt thank you to our supporters that have contributed to our work,” Alison said.

“On our Facebook, you can see exactly how your money is being spent and watch first-hand the impact of your donations.”

If you would like to donate towards Paws2Rescue’s work, please visit their fundraising page and give what you can.

Do you have a dog story to sell? Email nia.dalton@reachplc.com.