I was honoured recently to be asked to become the patron of Casus Pax a Liverpool based ‘not for profit’ company, based in Liverpool, that is playing an important role in delivering humanitarian medical aid to the population of Ukraine. They are only small, but Adam and Holly are making a huge difference and often represent the whole of the NGO sector working in some parts of Ukraine on key aid issues.
Please put a date in your diary if you want to hear first hand accounts of what is happening there, what is happening to Ukrainians living her and what we can do to help. With the kind permission of Cllr Liam Robinson, the Leader of the Council, there will be an event in the Council Chamber of Liverpool Town Hall on 23rd May at 7 p.m. This will feature films from the front line, an exhibition of photographs and the opportunity to contribute directly to assist with the purchase of an ambulance as the Russians keep shooting up the ones
Adam and Holly have recently returned from the front line and have sent me this update which I am proud to be able to share with you.
“We have returned from our most recent aid delivery. It was a complete success albeit against the clock. We will start populating the various social media platforms with content over the next few days as we now have a decent time delay.
The first phase of the run was the delivery of an ambulance and a large quantity of medical supplies to a front line search & rescue and paramedic crew in Pokrovsk, Donetsk. This is within Russian artillery range and although we had a remarkably clear run into the area this is not the norm and I am sadly quite sure that the supplies we delivered with the ambulance will be exhausted quite quickly.
The Second phase saw us deliver another large quantity of medical supplies to the Ambulance service of Zaporizhzhia, the donation of a second ambulance – this time a smaller, casevac specific vehicle to the Zaporizhzhia Regional Police Paramedics, and the provision of Micro:bit equipment and other education supplies to the Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic University.
- NPU Zaporizhzhia: The smaller ambulance is ideally suited for the high speed and high agility work which NPU paramedics are carrying out in Orikhiv, again sadly I believe the life expectancy of this vehicle to be measured in months rather than years. This delivery brings the number of ambulances we have provided to 7.
- NPU Zaporizhzhia: In a recent communication, through yourself, with Zoya from QS we established a roadmap for conducting a multivariate analysis of the long-term mental health benefits and PTSD mitigation effects of a number of specific aid materials which we have been able to place with the NPU Paramedics in Zaporizhzhia. We were able to discuss this with the relevant senior leadership while in Zaporizhzhia and they both recognise the value of such a study and have shown genuine interest in co-operation and data sharing to this end. This is promising and I hope may guide broader humanitarian policies in the future.
- Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic University: The delivery of Micro:bit equipment was very well received. It was a resource which had been explicitly requested and has increased their education resources in this area by a factor of 5. This delivery was enabled by the BBC who are keen to follow up with data analysis to establish the feasibility of further support across Ukraine, an excellent result all round. We also took the opportunity to sign a mutual support declaration of co-operation with the University. This type of partnership is prized in Ukraine as a mark of trust and appreciation but also serves to facilitate easier communication and customs access. Such an agreement is fundamental with respect to rolling out more sophisticated academic outreach and education support this year.
In other news we have been asked to participate in an event at Imperial College London on 1st May which may be of interest to yourself, I am conscious of the late notice, but we were out of communications range when the finalised plans were coming together. I have attached a working copy of the flyer for the event.
I’m encouraged by this deployment. The logistics were particularly challenging, but I believe the results were profound and essential”.
Sincerely,
Adam
If you think that you can help Casus Pax in any way this is how to contact them:
Adam McQuire
Director – Casus Pax
Studio N, 49 Jamaica Street, Liverpool, L1 0AH
Email: adam.mcquire@casuspax.org
Telephone: 07889605319
But what does Richard Kemp think? 