Bikers hand over brass for Ukraine
ACOMMUNITY of motorbike riders have presented a cheque for more than £ 4,000 to help Ukraine.
Based at Packer Street in Rochdale, Brass Knuckle Riders presented a cheque of £ 4,475 to charity EastLancs4ukraine last week.
Formed in 2017, the group regularly host bike riding events and fundraise for good causes.
Recently, the group decided to host a charity bike ride to donate money and medical supplies to Eastlancs4ukraine, a team which is distributing aid within Ukraine.
Brass Knuckle Riders encouraged every participating biker to donate what they could, and donations also poured in online.
Around 1,426 bikers turned up at Birch Westbound services on the M62 motorway, did a full lap of the M60 motorway and ended up back at the services.
Spokesperson for the group Paul Whitaker, 53, told the Observer: “A lot of our members are exservice personnel, who were in the Armed Forces.
“We also have Fire Brigade members and nurses; we have got a whole demographic.
“Our ex-servicemen and ladies know what it’s like to be in a warzone, to be put in danger.
“We all felt like we wanted to do something for Ukraine.
“It doesn’t matter what walk of life you are from, it touches you. We didn’t want to sit back and do nothing.”
Brass Knuckle Riders contacted East Lancs4ukraine, and the coordinator, Harley Whitehead, told Paul that there was a huge demand for medical supplies.
They have been distributing aid to soldiers and Ukrainians who have been injured, and have even managed to deliver aid to Russianoccupied territories and will be returning to distribute more supplies.
Harley, who lives between Rochdale and Burnley, has been in and out of Ukraine for three years now. He said: “It’s nice to see the support of Brass Knuckle Riders.
“We are kind of grassroots, so it’s important that people like us are supported.
“We’ve done 6,200 miles in Ukraine in a two- week period.
“That’s 12 border crossings and over 30 tons of aid in total.
“There was a guy who had his leg blown off and he was hopping with his arms around his wife - he didn’t even have crutches.
“We went to one hospital and there were children with shrapnel wounds and they didn’t even have water.
“Donations will help us work around the curfews in Ukraine and with our logistics costs, and getting the aid to the right places.”