Two bikers are reflecting on how they put their lives at risk to bring smiles to orphans' faces.
Known as the 'Mid Life Bikers' Angus Charlton and Hedley Smith, originally from Hexham but now live in Spain, have successfully delivered more than 2,000 soft toys to three orphanages in Ukraine.
The duo was approached by residents from Nerja, who organised the collection of toys for the children displaced because of the war.
Known for their charity work which is often documented on their social media page 'Mid Life Bikers', they were asked to deliver the toys on their motorbikes.
Although the pair were apprehensive about the dangers of going to Ukraine, they decided to do it to spread joy leading up to Christmas.
The pair left Narja on Tuesday November 8 and successfully returned on November 17 after completing the 3,000 mile trip which took over five days.
"We feel exhausted and a little traumatised by the close missile strike," Angus said.
"We were about 600 to 700 metres from three cruise missiles hitting a building in Lviv and the city was backed out all night.
"We managed to ride out the next day during another missile strike and in the end, we were able to deliver all the teddys to children displaced by the war.
"The journey was worth it to bring some happiness and joy to the orphaned and displaced children.
"We that we will be back sometime in the future with more humanitarian aid as we have made so many Ukrainian friends.
"Although we successfully delivered the toys, we felt guilty about leaving them while more missiles were inbound."
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