A TEIGNMOUTH man is helping a Ukrainian daycare centre go broom by buying them a minibus.

Since the Ukrainian war began, Trevor Buffery has been crisscrossing Europe in his iconic van, delivering aid from his shop in Teignmouth to those who need it most in Ukraine.

However, on his latest trip in March, Trevor got a rather special request.

‘There’s this Disabled Children’s Day Care Centre near Ternopil called K3,’ said Trevor, ‘The headteacher told me that they are in dire need of transportation that would be used to pick up and drop off these disabled children to enable them to access this amazing facility.

‘This day centre is an important part of giving these children some normality, the current minibus is old and nowhere near big enough to cope with the amount of children now needing to visit the school.’

He added: ‘In the East, parents and guardians have been killed or conscripted into the army, and many new disabled children from war-torn areas are being displaced every day. Now they’ve got about 40 seats.’

This means that K3 can only bring a certain amount of kids to the centre each day, working on a rota.

Vowing to do his best for the school, Trevor began to work out how he could raise the money to buy the minibus. That idea came to him in a remote area of the country, near the city of Zhytomyr.

Trevor had been to the area long before the war when he was delivering aid for a different humanitarian crisis: the Chernobyl disaster. He remembered meeting an old lady at a crossroads, selling handmade brooms.

Now 25 years later, Trevor is back. The crossroads has been replaced by a dual carriageway. The lady has gone, but the family remains, continuing to sell brooms as they always had.

Trevor said: ‘Coming back 25 years on was an amazing feeling. I thought it would be a good idea to buy some of these brooms and sell them here in Teignmouth to raise the money for the minibus.

‘We bought 100 brooms. But because the people of Ukraine are deeply religious, I thought it a good idea to have a ceremony where the brooms are blessed.

‘We thought it would be a five-minute thing, but it turned out to be a full service; singers, candles, the works. A priest named Father Roman blessed the brooms for us.

‘I got back to Teignmouth and then thought I would make some certificates, number each broom, and sell limited edition blessed brooms from Ukraine!’

Trevor has already sold 45 brooms and raised over £5,000.

While he continues to sell brooms, Trevor is also on the lookout for a minibus to take over. The minibus must be a 16-seater with disabled access.

Trevor plans to take the minibus as well as another van to Ukraine in mid-November, packed with aid. ‘I’ll start collecting for that soon,’ Trevor added.

This will be Trevor’s sixth visit to Ukraine. ‘There’s a lot of air raid sirens now, there used to be a lot less when I first started visiting. There’s a lot they’ve got to put up with, but they live with this every day.

‘Morale is still amazing though. They’re fighting for their country and the morale is still good, I think that’ll be there forever. It’s not easy, loved ones are getting killed but they show amazing resilience.

‘But the one thing I really notice is that they really feel our support. They always say that England’s doing so much to support them. For me, it all means a lot, whether it’s a smiling face at an orphanage or a bit of banter with a border guard. It’s those little things that keep you going.’

► If you or someone you know has a minibus for sale, or would like to purchase a broom, visit Trevor’s shop, the Treasure Trove, in Teignmouth, or contact him on his Facebook page.