The Grand Tour

Jeremy Clarkson Reunites With Clarkson’s Farm Cast As He Asks Fans For Help: “I Can Hardly Believe I’m Saying This”

Jeremy Clarkson has posted a video to Instagram as he reunites with his Clarkson’s Farm cast at the pub with a pint of Hawkstone lager.

He pans the phone around to his farming manager Kaleb Cooper who himself has a pint, and then zooms in on a familiar hairstyle in the background. Fans will notice it’s Gerald Cooper, a fan-favourite from the popular Amazon Prime farming show.

In a story posted to Instagram at the same time, Jeremy can be seen sitting in his Diddly Squat Farm office.

“Sorry to barge in here like this,” he says. “But Viktor, the bee man at Diddly Squat Farm is Ukrainian.

“He’s got a lot of family and friends who are stuck there and they need our help.”

He continued to say that he’s attached a link to the story which will take viewers to a Just Giving page that’s raising money to pay for the vehicles Ukraine needs to transport civilians away from the war that Russia is waging on the country.

“I can hardly believe I’m saying this in Europe today, but anyway.

“They are stuck and we need to get them out, so pickup trucks, anything they can get their hands on, that’s what they need the money for.

“Please, please, please help if you can and click on the link and donate whatever you can afford.

“Thank you.”

I will of course be donating, and I beg you to please give if you can. I know that life is very difficult for a lot of us right now with the rise in living cost, fuel shortages, and COVID. But if a lot of us give a little each, it can make a huge difference.

The crowdfunding has raised £10,401 at the time of writing, and says the following:

My name is Viktor Zaichenko, I was born and raised in beautiful Ukraine. I took my degree in the gorgeous city of Kyiv, a city that is very close to my heart as it was the place where I met my dear uni friends. I moved to the United Kingdom in 2001 but never lost touch with my friends back home, and these same friends are now involved with organising the evacuation of civilians caught up in this atrocity. Me and my wife Lucy are helping with the war efforts in any possible way. Not long ago, my friend Ura asked me if I would be able to help them with armoured 4×4 pick ups that can be used in search and rescue missions to evacuate civilians in the most dangerous and difficult areas to reach..

Lucy and I are going ahead and buying the first vehicle with our own money to send as soon as possible. We will fill it up here with whatever supplies are on the “most needed” list, and once they get to the border, the vehicle will be collected by members of the rescue teams and driven back to Kyiv where the supplies, and the vehicles will be utilised to help civilians trapped in frontline areas.

It is getting more and more critical to evacuate civilians and more and more dangerous to get to the hot spots in normal vans, as the enemy has been shooting at any vehicles, including those clearly carrying children. There are reports that food, water and medical supplies are running out, and that some children are drinking water from radiators because there is none left in the taps.

I am a bee farmer who proudly produces food for the UK in the form of honey and I believe I am an ok citizen as I pay my taxes year after year and although I have never done any fund raising in my life, when my brave friends ask I cannot say no. They are risking their lives to save others. But I am also asking you to donate your money for this cause too. To save one persons life is a profound act, and I know these vans are desperately needed right now in Ukraine and they will directly save lives.

My parents have decided to stay in Ukraine and my brother, the next day after the war started, joined the Territorial Army, he believes that freedom is worth fighting for, not with words, but by taking weapons in his hands.

It is very painful to watch Putins orcs destroying my country, but I see that to win this war every one of us has to do what we can do best, and even if my van saves one life I am winning. The destruction of Ukraine is on a scale none of us ever imagined could happen, and the speed at which it has happened is still difficult to fathom. We do realise that our attempts to help may be just a drop in the ocean in this appalling situation, but a single drop is still better than no drop at all.

We are immensely grateful to have the support of our friends here in the UK: Jeremy, Lisa and the wonderful team at Diddly Squat who have promised to help us with sourcing the vehicles that we need, and maybe find us some brave drivers who will deliver them over the Ukranian border too.

Alex Harrington

Alex started racing at a young age so certainly knows his way around a car and a track. He can just about put a sentence together too, which helps. He has a great interest in the latest models, but would throw all of his money at a rusty old French classic and a 300ZX. Contact: [email protected]

Related Articles

Back to top button