What makes a young family man with a successful business regularly take the hazardous journey to the Donbas region of Ukraine? And how does his partner cope knowing he is journeying through treacherous terrain, could be shot and killed at any time, in order to deliver much-needed supplies to people he doesn't know?
For Zoe Waites and Scott Stone from Swaffham, Norfolk, it is the realisation of something they have wanted to do for a long time.
Waites and Stone is a haulage company carrying goods all over the UK, and which also offers a storage facility for businesses and private individuals, as well as a safe place for storing caravans. A safe business in a safe part of Norfolk.
"We always wanted to help people but didn't know where to start. We have a successful business, a happy family home and a roof over our heads. We are lucky. Many people don't have that," said Zoe.
The family consists of Scott 47, his partner Zoe 43, and their three boys Zak 16, Zane 14 and Zander 9.
"When the war in Ukraine started on February 22nd 2022, we watched in horror. Then we heard that a local man , Ian Odgers, was looking for a trailer for the public to drop off donations, and which could then be taken to the Ukrainian Embassy in London," said Scott.
The couple volunteered and it snowballed from there.
They were contacted by Dorota Darnell who had co-founded the Polonia Group in Norwich and who requested that all items be taken to Poland. The first trip taken by Scott was on March 1st 2022. The image of Mothers' and babies on television meant that the first container was filled with clothing, blankets and hundreds of packets of nappies and sanitary wear.
"Following that trip, I was asked if I was prepared to go to Lviv in Ukraine, about 70 kilometres from the Polish border. It was an eye-opener. I could see the corruption. The stuff I was taking was being unloaded into small vans and then off to who knows where.
READ MORE: 'People still need our help' - Haulage firm's appeal for Ukraine
"At the same time I saw women with small children crossing the border and the men having to go back. I saw the horror of what was happening. I saw the frightened faces and corrupt officials. I decided that if I was going to continue, I would do it on my terms. I have always been a bit like that," said Scott.
"It rolled from there. I started going to Kiev taking medical aid, electrical items, as well as the other stuff I was already taking. Good food and medicine are in very short
supply unless you have money. And the ordinary people and soldiers don't have money.
"I have been ten times now and over that period I have seen small towns and villages decimated and turned to rubble. People killed and those that have survived living underground as best they can. Children living with grandparents as fathers have gone to fight, many of whom are probably now dead, and Mothers who are either helping with the war effort or who also have been killed.
"I saw one young women walking across a field with two very small children, one probably no more than two and the other about four, unwashed and thin and her face was blank. She walked as drones fell around her and none of them took any notice. They were the living dead. I sometimes think that those who were killed were better off."
READ MORE: Norfolk hosts needed to offer homes to Ukrainian families
Corruption is endemic but Scott now has learned who he can trust. He has taken six loads to Kiev but now goes directly to the front line at Odessa, Khershon and other places in the Donbas regions. He unloads his container and transfers items to small vans and then delivers where items are needed. One container had several generators (many went to hospitals) - an essential as electricity supplies are sporadic.
"Since last December I have been working directly with the Moto Health Group in Odessa, (before the war rather like St John Ambulance). It trains medics for civilian and front line work. Both men and women are trained. The men go to the front line, the women help those who are injured. I don't know who has the worst job."
He also works directly with Defence of Odessa 210 which helps with military supplies and getting refugees to safer areas as and when necessary. All are working in very difficult conditions and with little resources.
"There is a desperate need for medical and military equipment. Everyday items like clothing, bullet proof vests, boots and the like, and medicines like paracetamol and morphine, bandages and plasters.
"Things that are thrown away or incinerated in this country, that are vital over there. The government is helping the Ukrainian government, why can't the NHS, police forces, and the army supply stuff they no longer need rather than incinerating it? It could save thousands of lives.
READ MORE: Attleborough man detained at border on way home from Ukraine
"I was asked at one stage to take the morning after pills - as many as I could. I queried this. Apparently the Russian soldiers biggest weapon of choice is rape. And continual rape. Some of the women going to the hospitals are so damaged and mutilated, they need surgery. I couldn't comprehend this. How can anybody do such a thing, and often in the presence of children."
So what are some of the worse things you have seen?
"Mostly the corruption and those making themselves rich at the expense of others. In April the bridge I was to cross was blown up and we had to hunker down while the local men made Molotov cocktails and threw them at the Russians.
"Another time we were attacked by drones which, thankfully, just missed us. Then there was the time we passed Bucha, the small village that was bombed. The smell was awful. The smell of death and destruction. You can see pictures but you can't smell pictures.
"Another time I was handed a gun as we were going through a village and told to watch out for myself. That was scary, although I don't scare easily."
And the best things?
"The smiles of the children when you give them sweets. Filthy hands, faces, bodies and clothes, with just clean streaks where they have been crying. And they are so happy when they see us. And when you go to a seemingly destroyed village and people crawl our from underground to meet us. A good part of an awful life.
"Then there are the soldiers I now know. Most of the original military are now dead and the current ones come from all sorts of backgrounds and many parts of the world. One, Roma, was a bricklayer. During the day it is fairly peaceful and the men have to occupy themselves waiting for nightfall. Roma paints. With sparce materials he paints pictures on the front line. Amazing pictures. Then the paints go away and he holds other weapons."
Doesn't Zoe worry each time that Scott goes off that it might be the last time she sees him? She could be left by herself with three small children to care for.
"He keeps coming back. The first two trips happened before I thought about it too much. I am a bit of a dreamer and think everything will be alright. So far it has been. I am very realistic about things though. Our eldest boy Zak wants to go with his Dad but until he's 18 he says here with me," she says.
Scott and Zoe are passionate in what they are doing and want to do more. Initially they self funded the journeys but now more people are getting to know about it and are fund-raising or just giving money, although there is always a short-fall. Many Rotary Clubs in Norfolk have raised money to help them, and have also supplied items for Scott to take with him.
Zoe's job is collecting everything and doing all the paperwork. Scott freely admits he has no aptitude for the computer. "I'm just a lorry driver." But paperwork is essential. There must be a paper trail otherwise Scott wouldn't get into Ukraine and cross the country as he does regularly. Zoe's work is as essential as Scott's, but in a different way.
They are an amazing couple, although they would probably disagree. "We have to do what we can while we can. We are very lucky. These people have nothing. "Yet all the times I have been to Ukraine and spoken with people, nobody has ever said, we should stop fighting, we should surrender. They, like us, are determined to go on to the bitter end."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here