Winter Lifeline Convoy 2006 completed
This convoy left the UK on Wednesday 27 September 2006 and consisted of two 40 tonners plus 10 x 7.5 ton It was a convoy of two parts this autumn with a smaller group splitting off from the main group and travelling down to Romania to provide aid to some of the victims of this years' flooding. The main group's destination was Kosovo where they distributed aid and assisted with some of the ongoing projects.
This is what Team Kosovo delivered:

Total number of FAMILIES helped : 1,333
Total number of PEOPLE helped : 6,700.

Bulk delivery of Medical Equipment to Peja Hospital; 40 Sewing Machines and Material to Nesha Project, Peja; Bulk delivery of Education/Schools Equipment plus Arts & Crafts Materials : Art School (Arijeta), Peja; Bulk delivery of assorted aid to Mental Health Institute, Shtime;
Bulk delivery of assorted aid to Mental Health Day Centre, Pristina;
Small delivery of assorted aid plus cash donation of €730 to Branka Project, Ferezaj Municipality;
Bulk delivery of assorted aid to Balkan Sunflowers;
Bulk delivery of assorted aid to Deaf and Blind Centre, Pristina ;
Bulk delivery of assorted aid to Hope and Homes ;
Bulk delivery of assorted aid to Centre for Brutalised Women, Pristina ;
Musical Instruments for Arsim Project;
Sports Equipment and Kits to Dr Luli (for various sporting projects).

I'm sure you will agree that the above figures are nothing short of staggering - WELL DONE.
Wednesday 27 September 2006 - Dave Smith and Steve Hunter and their co-drivers started the long journey today. Dave got the the ferry port and the 5 pm ferry was already full so had to wait for the 1 pm ferry. Steve had to take a different route Dartford-Zeebrugger and the two trucks will reunite at Vlissingen.
Thursday 28 September 2006 - Today the Southampton crew picked up their three lorries from SHB. Then took two of them, the IVECO and the DAF to Milestones weighbridge to see what their unladen weights were. In the meantime Malcolm Havercroft took his truck to the team's store at Ordnance Survey to unlock and get ready for the loading.
The loading this time took quite a bit longer than usual because of the need to be particularly careful with our weights and also to stow things in a particular order. Still by four in the afternoon we were pretty well all done and a return trip to take advantage of Milestones kindness and weighbridge provided the information that our weights were pretty well spot on. That must be a first for the Southampton Convoyers who in 2004 named one of their trucks 'Dodgy Scales' and ran their truck at a weight it would be unwise to publish.
Yet again the Southampton crew had to come to the rescue at the last minute, following a panic phone call from Frank Callanan insurance Green Cards were grabbed from the insurance office just as they were closing for the day. Thanks to John Desty superhero for second year running!!
Friday 29 September 2006 - More news from Dave Smith. The crews have safely arrived in Hegyeshslom in Hungary and enjoyed a good meal and settling down for the night at the hotel. They are aiming for Szeged on Saturday. On route they saw a five mile queue of trucks leaving Hungary.
Saturday - 30 September 2006 - Today's first report is from Tom Conlin en route for Kosovo. A good first day (Friday) was had after it started with concerns about official UNHCR letters which weren't received by Chas until 10.10 am on Friday - there's always a "cutting it fine" element at some point on departure date.
Convoy reached Brussels before bedding down for the night and making their way to Aachen today. Its hoped to reach Czech Republic by tonight.
Our second report today is from Dave Smith. After what seems a pretty uneventful day the crews arrived at Szeged in the early afternoon and settled down for the night to await the main convoy, due to arrive Sunday.
Sunday 1 October 2006 - Chas Lewry reports that the convoy finally stopped for the night after an eventful drive from Belgium to the Czech Republic. There were problems with Protractor (loss of power) and Robin Hood (loss of break lights). They've settled down for the night in a remote village where a restaurant has agreed to provide everyone with food and beer (at 11.00 pm!)
The crews arrived there thanks to the sat navs which were generously provided by Steve Gubbins of Garmin. They've proved invaluable for night navigation. Many thanks Steve.
Monday 2 October 2006 - Message received from Bev just before midnight last night the main convoy met up with the 40 tonners in Szeged on the Hungarian/Serbian border and all is well. Chas took Robin Hood apart and put it back together again - still no brake lights, but the crew are looking after them. Took advantage of a greasy spoon in Czech Republic when Charles worked on the cab.
The plan is for everyone to be on their way by 9 am this morning (Monday).
Tuesday 3 October 2006 - Two updates received on Monday, the first from Charles Lewry. The convoy crossed the border into Serbia at Subotica at around 11 am this morning and are waiting for customs clearance formalities to be completed. Estimates are between two and six hours. Last night Charles managed to enjoy a shower and shave for the fist time since hitting the road last week, at the hotel Nibsy and the 40 tonner drivers has organised on the Hungarian border. The previous nights' journey was a huge improvement on previous years because of a brand new motorway from Budapest down to Sveged - just a pity its not on the sat navs yet.
Ideally the Kosovo crew would like to be down to Nis tonight and the Romania crew would like to be into Romania. The two parties will separate at Novi Sad in Serbia.
The second update is from Bernie Callanan who is the daughter of Frank and joins us for the first time. Everyone's been enjoying the warm weather front, which Frank has been forecasting each morning, and taking advantage of the delay at the Serbian border (2 hours at the time of receipt) to enjoy tea and cake (thank you Tom's mum-in-law) around Nibsy and Norman's truck. There's a book being run, currently running at €5, on what time they'll get across the border.
The wait is providing good bonding time along with much CB banter and jokes. Next on the agenda is circuit training, power pacing with Elaine and Doreen around the car park, with a bit of pressure on the guards to "let us go".
Wednesday 4 October 206- Another two updates, the first from Bev Storer, Team Romania. Left the Kosovo Team yesterday (Monday) and cleared the border at 3.15, but met again at the first tolls as papers not cleared for free passage. Chas and Tom are following up now. Arrived at the Romanian border after going off route to find a motel (without luck). At 10.30 cleared easily and through at 1 am Romanian time. Everyone was greeted by Blythewood Care, who were very helpful.
The crew found a pizza place which very kindly reopened at 1.30 am and cooked up pizza and served everyone with half a pint of raki each. Now waiting to clear customs (again).
The second update was received from Malcolm Havercroft via email, again from the Team Romania:
After a frustrating day of border hassles we are finally in Romania en-route to our destination at Calarasi.
We tried to get into Romania from Serbia at Jimbolia late on Monday night but had to stay in town until Customs opened the next day. We caught the local pizza restaurant who re opened to serve us at 02.00! They even gave us a lethal shot of their homemade slivo which had a strange effect on Elaine and Doreen who tried to strike up a conversation with a statue on the way back to the hotel.
Next day (this morning) we were told it was impossible to import food through this location. Long tense negotiations followed which resulted in us being sent back into Serbia to travel South to another crossing at Moravita were more beaurocrats were waiting to spoil our day. We finally got through thanks to our saintly patience and the invaluable help of Dr Adrian Popa from Blythewood Care in Romania who managed to find solutions to the many obstacles put in our way.
Chas and Bev have been in contact throughout the day with the Kosovo contingent now safely arrived and Lin from our Romania aircrew who arrived in Bucharest earlier today.
Our plan is for a 06.00 start tomorrow (Wed) and to try to get to our destination before midnight.
Thursday 5 October 2006 - Several updates today, received yesterday, but too late to post last night. The first is from Charles Lewry - Team Romania. The trucks followed Chas down to our rather small warehouse in Spantov, one of the towns affected by the floods. After some superbly skilled manoeuvring by Mr Flibble (he is a professional after all) all the trucks were safely parked in the compound. Three out of the four trucks were unloaded, thanks to the help of several enthusiastic locals. Lin (Holland) is doing her usual efficient job of organising the warehouse. All the crew are very tired on the long journey back to the hotel.
Our second update is by way of a photograph from Kosovo, with many thanks to Arijeta and shows two children who have just received items for our delivery in the Mitrovica region.
Our third update is from Audrey Nice Team Kosovo.
Greetings from Pristina. A busy day for the Kosovo convoy today with buses Busby, plus Michelle, Nibsy, Two Callas and Protractor heading for Mitrovica, Sea Dogs and Brother Bear to Vushtrrij and Rice Maidens plus Judy to Skenderaj. In total 370 families, 2,026 individuals, received aid. Tina and Dave L deserve a massive thanks from us all for their efforts in the warehouse. After a day out all buses returned to neat piles of aid to be packed straightaway. What a pair of superstars! As a newby to the convoy I was lucky to head out with old hands (sorry boys, not too old) Coxy and John in the Sea Dogs truck. Nothing really prepares you for seeing the burned out buildings left over from the war for the first time. Today was a real lesson in the history of the conflict for me. In Vushtrrij we distributed to a 132 families and all ran surprisingly smoothly thanks to an ideal drop-off warehouse, experienced convoyers and a scary local.
The biggest hit of the day has to have been the new trainers, very eagerly sought after, and the individual children's' boxes given out to our willing helpers. I like to think that we bought a little ray of sunshine today to a few families - blankets for the winter, toys for the children - and am pleased to say that riots were avoided - even when Coxy started handing out sweeties.
As a side-note I have to say Coxy's driving was surprisingly calm. I had heard rumours, although compared to Kosovan driving that may not be much of a compliment! So, to quote John Desty, this is perhaps the most organised convoy ever and we were back at the hotel by 6 pm.
Only one thing for it: Happy Birthday Nisby. Time for a beer I reckon.
Friday 6 October 2006 - The first of today's updates is from Bev in Romania. Today the crews left at 7.45 am and arrived at the warehouse at 9.30 am and commenced distribution to 160 families, the majority of whom are gypsy and had been affected by the flooding and living in makeshift tents. It was a good team effort and excellent local help. Eighty-two families didn't arrive so they'll be seen on Saturday before the team heads back to Chislet where they plan to offload the 40 tonner to in excess of 250 families. Everyone now off for dinner and an early night.
The second of today's updates is from Kosovo, along with some photographs showing scenes from Nibsy's distribution today. Nibsy delivered a new wheelchair to a young girl of 13 or 14 in a collective centre in the Mitrovica district (no photograph available). He and Norman had been promising to get a modern sports wheelchair since last year when they had given her and elderly persons chair, and were now delighted to be able to fulfil their promise. The girl had suffered spinal injuries after enduring multiple rapes from soldiers during the war. The condition cannot improve unless she can find money to build her own house on the land. Busby today did some very rewarding drops. The most notable involved a 6 km drive over dirt roads up over the mountains to an isolated pair of small single storey houses and a dilapidated mini bus. The bus was formally home to a family with severe learning difficulties. KFOR had built the houses for them in desperation. The husband had been executed in 1999 leaving a mentally handicapped wife, five mentally handicapped daughters and a fit son. Because the son is of working age (20), no social security is paid to this family who rely entirely on donations of food and clothing from the Mother Theresa Society and few others.
It was cold at 3,000 feet altitude where they were struggling to survive. In a few weeks, snow will begin to fall. Unfortunately, in Kosovo, there are no facilities to care for people like this whose problems are considered "mild".
Saturday 7 October 2006 - Tina went to visit a lady with a severely infected leg living in appalling conditions, though provided by UN. She cannot afford treatment at €80 per month, but HAAD volunteers chipped in to provide 6 months treatment for her. If this fails, she faces amputation or certain death. Almost all aid has now successfully been delivered and only tomorrow to finish off with a few special projects. Food will be taken out to the mentally ill family living at 3,000 feet.
Balkan Sunflowers and the Muslim Centre plus Mother Theresa Society will receive food, clothing, bedding, toys, etc.
Sea Dogs visited a Centre for victims of torture and will put them in contact with the Healing Hands Network working in Sarajevo who also work with war victims
Sunday 8 October 2006 - Today, we start off with a report from Team Kosovo: Some of the team returned to the isolated family with learning difficulties living in the very isolated situation at 3,000 feet mentioned yesterday. Because of the rain, we could only reach them using a 4x4. We took plenty of food for them to supplement the clothing and bedding taken earlier. They receive a visit from Mother Theresa Society every two weeks for most of the year and for the worst winter months, receive a stock to last them for 2 months. Other groups continued with various drops and the aid has all been distributed. The convoy leaves tomorrow morning and the flying team in the afternoon. Thanks to everyone at MTS for the help they have given with guides, interpreters, and lists aid recipients, and also thanks to the Hotel Apollonia for providing e-mail and internet facilities without which these updates would not have been possible. Avery special thanks to Dr Luli for all his help as always and to Arijeta, Faruk, Aryan, Driton, Arsim, who have all given up very scarce free time to help us once again this convoy.

Team Romania
Our second report is from Team Romania - Its now Sunday evening and the team are just on their way back from their final distribution day. They delivered direct to 130 internally displaced person's families, all now living in prefabricated boxes (8 ft x 12 ft) as a result of the flooding. All were so grateful for the family boxes and other items they received today. Distribution took place from the site of Mr Flibble while Gonzales acted as a warehouse.
The airborne crew left Bucharest at the end of the days' work and are staying there before departing early tomorrow (Monday). The convoy sets off for home first thing Monday morning.
Monday 9 October 2006 - First update today is from Charles Lewry at 11 am of Team Romania. Convoy had just passed the Bucharest heading for Pitesti. Plan to cross the border into Hungary at Arad then on to Szeged.
Second update of the day (again from Team Romania) came from Bev Storer at just after 5 pm. The team left the hotel at 9.00 am this morning and have been on the go all day. Just outside Bucharest the team had a traumatic experience when the van in front hit a puppy - there are a lot of wild dogs roaming the area. The convoy stopped (and the of course the rest of the traffic had to stop too) to move the puppy off the road, he was in pretty poor shape.
The team enjoyed a quiet dinner overlooking the Danube before getting back on the road to Transylvania. Elaine is busy making everyone crosses from cocktail sticks. Fortunately the only bites, so far, have come from mosquitoes.
10.00 pm - Kosovo are crew safely home - Michelle, Tina, Ruth and Judy.
Tuesday 10 October 2006 - No messages received today.
Wednesday 11 October 2006 - Tom Conlin reporting on behalf of Team Kosovo: Had a very frustrating day yesterday (10/10/06) with a 4½ hour delay at the Hungarian border followed by another 4 hour delay at the Slovakian border. The Bratislava curse struck again in the form of a broken linkage on Protractor, but this was quickly fixed after Nibsy towed her out of the road works. Everyone slept on the trucks after a tailgate fry-up, now in Czech Republic and hope to get well on through Germany by tonight.
Team Romania update for 10 October - Completed drive from night stop in Romania to the Hungarian Border. Fairly quick crossing after the guard had a play with Chas' radio. Heard from the Kosovan team about a 8 Km jam before the Slavian border so decided to make a night stop before joining the queue. Nice hotel and goulash meal. In the morning the queue had gone so headed off towards Prague.
At just after 6 pm the crew were in Prague at the MAN agents who were attempting to fix Robin Hood's brake lights. The team are hoping to meet up with Sea Dogs who are waiting for the team at Amburg in Germany.
Thursday 12 October 2006 - Dave Smith (Mr Flibble) successfully caught the 6.00 pm ferry from Vlissingen to Dagenham, due to arrive in the UK at 3.00 am.

Team Romania - things were not going to well for the team Wednesday and Thursday with a stop just north of Prague to get Robin Hood's brake lights fixed, a five minute job they'd hoped. After an hour Mr Flibble broke off and the team waited for a further eight hours. At mid-night the team set off to meet Sea Dogs at Aachen and arrived at 4.40 am. The team left at 9.00 am and dropped Coxy off at Frankfurt to party and arrived at Aachen at 8.45 pm for a final meal together as a team. The team encountered a four hour hold up just north of Frankfurt travelling at just 3 Km an hour.

Friday 13 October 2006 - Team Romania are now home having left Aachen at 9.25 am. After a quick shop in Calais they boarded the 16.10 ferry for their truckers meal. The Southampton crews headed off south and Robin Hood headed off into the east. Everyone looking forward to a luxurious bath before a weekend of sorting out the trucks and returning them to their respective hire companies Saturday morning.
Saturday 14 October 2006 - Update from John Desty - the Southampton team consisting of Charlie and Doreen in Gonzales, Elaine and Malcolm in Top Gear and John in Sea Dog had a very pleasant but long drive through five countries from their starting point at Aachen yesterday. We drove straight onto the 4.20 pm ferry at Calais which sailed just 10 minutes after checking in!! We said goodbye to Chas and Bev in Robin Hood at Ashford and arrived back home at 8.20 pm. All the trucks were cleared out and taken back to SHB this morning.
We would like to thank Garmin for the use of the two sat navs (Emily1 & Emily 2) which proved invaluable during the journey.

Return to Home Page