WEST Somerset mother Clare Wilson is taking her 10-year-old son in a charity convoy to deliver aid for frontline troops in war-torn Ukraine.

William Wilson, an Otterhampton Primary School pupil, is making a three-day, 1,400-mile journey across Europe to the city of Lviv, in the ‘safer’ western part of Ukraine.

Other pupils have written letters which William will give to soldiers in Ukraine to keep with them.

Mrs Wilson, aged 46, who lives near Stogursey, said: “I realise this is not for everyone, and it is not the safest of adventures.

“William has classmates who fled Ukraine leaving their dads behind to fight, and he wants to do something to get families back together again.

“It is a worry, but it is as safe as it can be.

“William keeps asking questions about it and we have been honest with him.

“We spent a long time talking about it, but he is the one who wants to go.

“I have not done anything like it before. It has just captured my heart.

“It is not often you get a chance to do something to change people’s lives. You cannot change the war, but hopefully you can change somebody’s life.

“It is about getting people taking action, because it seems like a forgotten war.”

Also making the trip with them as a co-driver is William’s cousin Sam White, aged 24, who works for an insurance company in Taunton and lives in Venn Cross, between Wiveliscombe and Bampton.

It is part of a Pick-ups for Peace initiative started by a group of Scottish farmers who take aid-filled four-wheel drive trucks to Ukraine and leave them to be used in various roles in the war with Russia.

Mrs Wilson said: “As soon as I discovered the charity, I knew I wanted to be part of what they were doing.”

She said they would spend a couple of days in Ukraine visiting different charities, including a school for blind children, and cooking and eating a meal with soldiers on 48-hour leave from the frontlines, before flying back to the UK.

The convoy will travel through France, Belgium, and Germany to the border between Poland and Ukraine, from where they will have a police escort.

Some of the convoy will go on to Kharkiv, but Mrs Wilson said it was ‘too dangerous’ for her and William to go that far.

More than 300 vehicles have been taken in the past year to Ukraine, where they are used to ferry aid and supplies to the frontline and return with wounded soldiers to receive medical help, or used by firefighters and air defence teams.

Mrs Wilson has raised more than £1,800 of her £2,000 target to cover medical and humanitarian supplies, and previously collected £3,500 to buy their second-hand truck, which will go to the Ukrainian ambulance service.

Husband Jeremy is staying at home to look after William’s sisters, Hope, aged seven, and Emily, aged six.

Anybody who wants to support the appeal can visit Mrs Wilson’s online funding page here.