Knaresborough man sends ‘not one but two fire engines’ in final mission to deliver aid to Ukraine

Bob Frendt, 72, a retired lorry driver who successfully delivered eight truckloads of essential aid to schools and hospitals in Volodymyr, had thought his latest goal may be too ambitious.

Mr Frendt’s previous trips highlighted how essential emergency vehicles are to the city caught up in the conflict and made it his final mission after running into serious health issues.

He said: “I’m buzzin’. I said I’d try to get one, I don’t think they thought I’d actually do it.

“When they said if they don’t get a fire engine they’d die, it spurred me on.

“I never thought for one minute I’d go in for one and come out with two.”

After raising 7K, news came in that Mr Frendt received an anonymous donation of 10K.

He said: “I thought I can start looking now, I’m on a roll.

“I found if I saw people face to face I got a better response.

“So we went to a company called Angloco in Batley.

“He showed me the one we’d bought, which was exactly what we needed.

“I asked if I needed to sell my missus, the car and house to buy it.

“I know he knocked off at least 10K.”

On the day of the deal another company wanted to part exchange their old one.

Angloco told them it was too old but he knew a chap who was looking for engines to take to Ukraine.

He said: “The company told Angloco I could have that one free of charge.

“So I went in for one and came out with two. It was absolutely amazing.”

Mr Frendt suffers from cardiovascular trouble, and recently spent some time in hospital.

Despite having been urged to take more care, remarkably, he pushes on to complete his final trip.

He said: “I had a bit of a wobble from the stress, I’ll need a pacemaker fitting.

“It just took my life over.

“Men are getting killed trying to protect their families who are left behind.

“They need all the help they can get.

“If it saves one life it was worth every minute.

Mr Frendt and his partner Maureen have recently shared their home with their good friend and fellow interpreter from his previous trips, Valerie Korniienko.

He said: “She asked us to get her out for her own safety.

“She was terrified they’d blow up the power station.

“We are helping her find work and get settled."

Mr Frendt has promised this is the last trip but he will continue to fundraise and support Knaresborough’s Chain Lane Community Hub who have played a pivotal role throughout fundraising events.

He would also like to mention Wetherby Lions and Folk Club, including Knaresborough and Boroughbridge Lions for their ‘incredible support’.

He said: “The CEO has been phenomenal helping organise events like the Eurovision evening.

“It's amazing what you can do, and people want to help where they can.”

Mr Frendt has a number of events coming up to raise travelling costs, updates to these events can be found at https://www.facebook.com/bob.frendt.9