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Avon Fire & Rescue Service (AF&RS) Chief Fire Officer Matt Cook and Avon Fire Authority Chair Councillor Tom Renhard joined Bristol City Council, Ukraine Aid and Welfare and other local partners in an event to celebrate the Independence Day of Ukraine (24 August).
This community celebration, which saw the Ukrainian flag being raised at Bristol City Hall, invited Ukrainian families and the wider Bristol community, to embrace Ukrainian culture, heritage and resilience, while also showing solidarity with the country which faces an ongoing conflict.
Matt Cook, Chief Fire Officer at AF&RS, said: “It was an honour to represent Avon Fire & Rescue Service at this important event marking Ukrainian independence and being able to show our solidarity to our Ukrainian community living in Bristol.
“Over the years, our organisation has proudly worked with charities Fire Aid and International Development and Ukraine Aid and Welfare (UAW) to donate much-needed vehicles and equipment to firefighters in Ukraine to help support their lifesaving work.”
Councillor Tom Renhard, Avon Fire Authority Chair and Leader of Bristol Labour Group at Bristol City Council, added: “The strength and resilience of the Ukrainian community continues to inspire me. It’s been fantastic to join Matt and my colleagues at Bristol City Council in standing with Ukraine and celebrating the anniversary of the country’s independence.”
In August 2025, AF&RS completed a 2,000-mile journey to deliver two fire engines and vital rescue equipment to firefighters in Odesa, Ukraine. The two fire engines, along with personal protective equipment, hydraulic cutting tools, water rescue gear and road traffic collision equipment, were formally handed over to the Odesa City Department of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. The donated equipment came from AF&RS’s retiring fleet and surplus stock that could no longer be used by the Service.
Matt Cook and Councillor Tom Renhard were also joined by Councillor Paul Goggin. Formerly Avon Fire Authority Chair, Paul was part of the convoy of AF&RS volunteers who delivered firefighting vehicles and equipment to Odesa City in August 2025.
In 2023, six AF&RS firefighters were part of a 25-vehicle convoy carrying over 8,000 items to Ukraine.
The Independence Day of Ukraine was formed on 24 August 1991 when the country declared its independence from the former USSR.