From Keen’s Road to Kyiv: Kingham’s in South Croydon, with their latest 4×4 donation
Kingham’s, the South Croydon car dealership and repairs business, yesterday handed over the latest 4×4 vehicle to charity groups operating in Ukraine.
It is the 10th vehicle donated by Kingham’s to Ukraine since the Russian invasion in 2022.
The vehicles are put to various uses by emergency services – as ambulances, for ferrying supplies and aid – in the country that has been devastated by war for more than two years.
Yesterday’s handover came at a particularly poignant moment, following the latest wave of cruise missile attacks by Russian forces, including targeting a children’s hospital in Kyiv.
Two people died when the Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital – Ukraine’s biggest paediatrics facility – sustained major damage. At least another 36 people were killed and 140 people were injured in the strikes, according to Ukrainian government sources.
“One part of the hospital was destroyed and there was a fire in another. It’s really very damaged – maybe 60 to 70% of the hospital,” Lesia Lysytsia, a doctor at the hospital, told the BBC.
Pictures from the scene showed young children – some with IV drips – sitting outside the hospital as it was evacuated.
Rocket attack: the children’s hospital in Kyiv after being hit by a Russian cruise missile yesterday
The Russian attacks came ahead of a NATO summit to discuss allied response to the emergency in eastern Europe.
In the meantime, charitable efforts from businesses and community groups continue, such as by Kingham’s, one of Croydon’s longest-established businesses.
“They really have put a massive effort to help Ukraine,” according to one of the Kingham’s appeal’s donors.
According to Keith Kingham, the latest 4×4 is a Daihatsu Fourtrak that the garage has “spent ages welding up and reinforcing the suspension and chassis”.
As well as the vehicle, “Customers have kindly donated towards a new set of off-road tyres and extra humanitarian aid,” Kingham said.
“It gives me a lump in my throat how generous people can be.”
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Well done to all at Kingham’s and all who have supported their charitable efforts.