Dave Thorp has just come back from a trip to Ukraine to film for a documentary about aid workers.
He has told YorkMix of his feelings seeing a six-year-old girl clutching all her belongings in her arms as she caught a train to a new home in the UK.
He was working with Van-Aid, a group of people, including many truck drivers, who deliver aid then return with refugees.
The documentary is being made by Picture Point Films and is directed by Daniel Coll. Dave was working as a cameraman and it will be shown at a film festival in Cannes.
Dave told YorkMix: “I went in a convoy of six or seven vehicles, all operated by private van drivers, people who’ve worked with truckers, people who worked in the logistics industry.
“People who were giving up their time and frankly, their money as well, to drive thousands and thousands of miles across to Eastern Europe bringing back people who were in desperate and dire straits.
“We travelled across France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland.”
Dave continued: “We brought one family out and they needed to get on a train in the UK so we raced across most of Europe, at speeds of up to 130 miles an hour.
“We were desperate to get back because our Government had issued them with rail passes valid for 48 hours after arrival in the UK.
“The problem was there was a rail strike due and they needed to use these passes before the industrial action started on Saturday morning.
“When we got to the railway station, what really struck me was a little girl, about six-years-old, clutching a little plastic bag with all her possessions in it.
“She could barely get her arms around this bag. But it was all she had.
“She was dropping things. She was struggling and people were rushing past her.
“This little girl was running amongst all the crowds of people and she was frightened. She was determined. She was excited too but quite confused.
“That image will stay with me for the rest of my life. It was striking, but I think now she’s living where hopefully she’ll be happy and safe for as long as she needs.”
The little girl features in the film.
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Dave said: “One of the things I’ve learned on this trip is I never want to find myself complaining again.
“We live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world, one of the safest countries in the world, one of the richest countries in the world.
“Sometimes I think we just need to be reminded of that more frequently.”