An army veteran working at a barbers in Wickford has raised over £14,000 to fund a trip to support Ukrainian refugees in Poland.

53-year-old Steve Parker, who commutes from Saffron Walden to Boxers Barbers on Southend Road, is raising the funds to ensure five lorries worth of supplies, due to leave on Thursday, can be delivered to refugees escaping the current Russian invasion. 

As an ex-serviceman who deployed in Bosnia during the 1990s, Mr Parker said the recent events had deeply affected him and led him wanting to collect items at his barbers. 

Echo: Steve Parker, 53, is an army veteran who served in Bosnia Steve Parker, 53, is an army veteran who served in Bosnia

After making contact with aid workers in Krakow on his drive over he will then deliver the supplies directly to those most in need.   

Having already enlisted the help of ex-military members, volunteers, and customers he set up a Crowdfunder to help pay for the trip which so far has raised £14,133 in under a week, £2,000 more than his original target.

He said: “I saw that people are getting aid across there and I thought ‘you know what I’ve got a shop here with a massive community, a good reputation, so why not see what we can raise.’

Echo: Donation left by customers of Boxers Barbers in Wickford Donation left by customers of Boxers Barbers in Wickford

“The genocide, the bombing of innocent places and watching refugees without parents, without father’s flee from Bosnia, when you see that first hand it’s very difficult to explain how that makes you feel. 

He added: “20-30 years later you’re seeing a repeat of a madman decide that he’s going to take over something and cause the same disruption. That’s why I’m involved, I’ve seen it first hand.”