GOAT Roadtrip is setting up a team of volunteers to assist in the movement of refugees to the UK as part of the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ refugee scheme

On Friday 18th March, the day that applications for the scheme opened, the company’s CEO, Kevin Cabra Netherton, drove to Poland to assist refugees who are fleeing the war in Ukraine.

He will be working with local NGOs to identify Ukrainian refugees who want to move to the UK, matching them with UK hosts, and facilitating their travel to get there. He will be supported by a team of volunteers that has been set up at the company’s office in Leeds.

GOAT Roadtrip campervans are usually hired by holidaymakers travelling around the UK but will now be used to move refugees from their point of entry in Poland to main railway stations for onward travel. GOAT Roadtrip’s sister company Euroventure, a European rail tour operator, will organise and supply the special refugee train tickets via Germany, Netherlands and the UK.

GOAT Roadtrip’s CEO, said:

Having operated a travel company through a global pandemic has taught me that nothing is impossible. Everything has been put into perspective. Right now, Ukrainians are in a dire situation, and they need help so that is what we are doing.

The intention is to work with NGOs in Poland, close to the Ukraine border, to identify eligible refugees who want to take up the offers from British hosts who are opening up their homes.

Co-founder Philip Cabra Netherton said: 

We already have the expertise of organising European travel, so we need to step up and offer our services to make sure that refugees that have matched with a British host are able to get to the UK safely.

Find out more about BETA member Euroventure here