Meet the pub landlords in village near Banbury who have raised over £25,000 for Ukraine

Steve and Niki’s lives were changed dramatically in February 2022, when they saw on the news that Ukraine had been invaded by Russia.

The couple were shocked by the images on television and felt a strong urge to help the victims of the war in any way they could.

At the time, the couple were the landlords of The Star Inn in Sulgrave and didn’t know what they could do to help.

Niki said: “It was February 2022; I’ll never forget watching it on the news and saying we need to do something, but as a small village pub, what on earth could we do that was going to have any impact at all?”

Well, it turns out they could do quite a lot, and it didn’t take long for the couple to spring into action and start a fundraising campaign from their pub.

March that year saw Steve and Niki organise a month-long fundraising campaign that amounted to over £1,000 of medical equipment donated to the UK Help for Ukraine organisation ran out of the old Debenhams store.

Niki added: “After that initial campaign, we just kept doing more. Eventually, the Star became a hub where people could drop off non-perishable foods and other items we would deliver to UK Help for Ukraine.”

After several months of fundraising and collecting items for other groups to send over, it was decided that Steve and a team of local volunteers would purchase vehicles to drive to Ukraine themselves.

Steve’s passion for organising and undertaking these dangerous long-distance drives to Ukraine is obvious when he retells the stories of some of the journeys.

Steve said: “We take upwards of six drivers, mostly from the local villages. We take drivers that can offer something as well as drive; for instance, we will take a paramedic, which can be quite handy when heading to a warzone!

"It’s a good thing to do, and you do get the bug for it. We were only supposed to go on one trip; we took a load of medicine out that belonged to a lady from Sulgrave who was cured of cancer.

"When we arrived in Ukraine, a soldier we delivered to took us to his home for dinner and told us his mother had been diagnosed with cancer, and because of the situation in the country at the time, she had been sent home to die without any medication and there I was with a truckload of cancer medication sitting outside.”

On each visit to Ukraine Steve makes, he encounters new problems that inspire him to fundraise further and plan the next trip.

Steve and his team of volunteers have completed four trips to Ukraine, with a fifth journey planned to take place this December.

So far they have delivered aid to soldier camps, hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, and an orphanage, where they will return this winter.

The couple have raised over £26,000 in cash and donated goods, such as vehicles, generators and aid, to the value of around £50,000.

Steve said: “A lot of the children in the orphanages have been totally institutionalised and have never even had chocolate before and are so grateful for the gifts we give them.”

Niki added: "In December, we will take the orphan's shoeboxes filled with Christmas gifts, toys, medical and hygiene items, and a teddy bear for each box, as well as an industrial kitchen that was kindly donated to us by VPK Packaging from Banbury.”

Although all of the trips have been a success to date, they have not been without a fair share of adventure and drama.

Steve talks about how on some visits he and his team have had to seek protection in hotel bomb shelters while they await the end of air raid sirens.

He is also clearly moved by the scenes he has witnessed in schools and hospitals where students and patients have no access to electricity or medication.

He said: “Obviously, they are in a war and have other things to spend their money on, but it’s still shocking to see furniture made from pallets and amputees being pushed around in old shopping trolleys. It can be pretty grim over there!”

Steve and his team have also made friends with soldiers who frequently send them video and picture updates from the frontline.

Steve added: “I get WhatsApp messages from a lot of soldiers, and then they stop, which is quite sad, but it’s war, and that’s what happens.

"Some of the messages, I would never share with anyone because they are so gruesome and shocking for us, but that’s their life!”

Since their last trip, Steve and Niki have moved premises to the Hare and Hounds in Wardington after running the Star for six years.

The couple has spent the past few weeks giving the Hare and Hounds a makeover, which has included creating a fantastic games room and giving the garden a much-needed tidy-up.

They are now in the process of creating a similar Ukrainian aid hub they had in Sulgrave at their new pub and say so far the village has been really supportive.

They said: “It’s a lovely community here in Wardington, and people seem really interested in helping us raise money for Ukraine.

"We keep a folder full of photographs from past trips we have done on the bar of the pub so that people can see what we do and where their money goes, and they feel involved in helping out.”

Steve and Niki hope to raise some extra funds for the December trip by selling paintings given to them by some of the orphans during their visit in April.

The four paintings are currently on display in the pub’s restaurant and available for purchase upon request.