Vets with Horsepower, an intrepid band of motorbiking vets, has helped BEVA hit its target of £20,000 to buy generators to help Ukrainian veterinary colleagues who are working in war-ravaged conditions.
Vets with Horsepower is organized annually by Professor Derek Knottenbelt to help raise funds for equine and human charities around the world. This year the group undertook an endurance motorbike trip of over 1600 miles. Two groups, one from Scotland and one from Southwest England, met up in Northern Germany and travelled across Scandinavia and back to the UK. They provided education events for equine veterinarians along the way to raise funds for four charities including Power for Ukraine.
“BEVA’s Power for Ukraine initiative is part of British Equestrians for Ukraine,” said BEVA Council member Alison Talbot, who is leading the project. “Thanks to the generosity of equine vets in the UK we had just hit the halfway mark of raising £10,000 before Vets with Horsepower set off on their epic Scandinavian mission. We are so grateful for their donation of £9,922 which means we can now buy another five generators to help twice as many vets and horses in extremely difficult circumstances during enforced power cuts.
“Thank you so much to Vets with Horsepower and to everyone who has donated to Power to Ukraine since we launched the campaign in February. I am proud to be a member of such a caring, brave and determined profession where we are able to come together to help colleagues and horses in need.”
The generators will be transported to a collection point in Poland and then on to Ukraine in time for winter.
Donations to the BEVA Trust Power To Ukraine appeal can be made via their JustGiving page here. Any surplus funds will be added to the general fund to support equids in Ukraine.