NHS workers from Bolton will bravely be heading to Ukraine to give aid amidst the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

The group, a mix of NHS staff who work in Bolton and elsewhere in Greater Manchester, want to use their skills to help the people of Ukraine.

Marta Roscoe, aged 37, from Heaton, has been organising the trip after she had the idea to go out and help in Ukraine.

She works for the NHS as a coordinator at Wythenshawe Hospital, at the Hootons at BWFC vaccination centre and the Etihad Mass Vaccination Centre in Manchester.

She said: “All the team in the Manchester vaccination centre and Bolton vaccination centre had just been chatting and I thought I know what would be great, to have all our skills and help people.

“I’m Polish myself and have been listening to the radio in Poland and Russia about what’s going on. They’re my neighbours, if someone was invading your neighbours, you’d help them.

“People say why aren’t you helping English people, I say we are helping people in England, we’re frontline workers during a pandemic.

“I’ve been working with charities over there already.

“I asked how we might help, they will be training people with first aid, training how to do transfusions, if someone gets shot what to do.”

The group are planning to go to Ukraine this September. The nurses joining Marta are Louise Crossley-Birch, Janette Butterworth, vaccinator and mental health nursing assistant Michelle Piercy and paediatric intensive care nurse Nikki Forshaw-Mahon.

Marta continued: “These are nurses with 20, 30 years of experience who are happy to go, happy to pay for themselves.

“If you would like to join us for the mission please get in touch, there’s so much to do over there, they really need us.”

The group have a GoFundMe page set up to raise funds for the trip – Marta highlighted the help people’s donations can give.

She said: “Even if it’s just five pounds, we are not rich people just private citizens. At least if the tickets are paid for, the rest we can sort out.

“We want people to be aware we’re self-funded. Extra exposure will really help us out. Show people this is real.”

Marta highlighted her motivations for undertaking this important task.

“It’s the right thing to do, if we won’t do it nobody will. As a Polish person, I have been told by my grandparents about what happened in the Second World War, they were squashed between Germany and Russia.

“It’s important not to let that happen again.

“People have been dying, there is no need for that in 2022, no need for a war. What I would like to do is give hope to Ukrainian people and let them know that they are not on their own.

“We are watching this we try to help and organise as much as we can. Give them hope and make sure they’re looked after as much as we can.”

She also highlighted the brilliance of her fellow workers, for example stating how Sister Louise Crossley-Birch was a part of the Manchester Village Angels and how Nikki Forshaw-Mahon is a paedeatric nurse, saying:

"They’re all incredible, absolutely amazing.”

Marta is already organising a second trip further down the line, having had an enthusiastic response from fellow workers.

If you’d like to donate to the nurses’ GoFundMe, here is the link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/nurses-for-crisis.