A West Dorset landlord who organised and drove convoys of humanitarian aid to Ukraine will be sharing his experience.

Tom Littledyke of Shave Cross Inn will be speaking after the screening of Flee at Bridport Arts Centre on Friday, April 29.

It will be a chance to hear how Tom, spurred on by one of his regulars, took his pub's minibus packed full of donations to the Poland-Ukraine border shortly after the war started.

Tom went on to drive to the Ukrainian city of Lviv to bring out refugees desperate to escape the conflict. This effort rapidly grew into a second convoy with more than 30 drivers delivering ambulances and 4X4s, as well as more humanitarian aid.

Tom says he has met "incredible and inspirational people" from the warzone, and he is especially indebted to Sofia, who has converted her eco refill shop in Lviv into a distribution point for aid and accommodation for refugees.

Tom said: "She has been vital in making sure aid is getting where it's needed - when she let us know that the ambulance we had dropped off had already saved a life, it was emotional to know that what we were bringing was getting put to use straight away."

Tom has a lifelong love of film. After first training as a Royal Marine Reservist, he pursued the pull of performance that had started with GCSE drama at The Woodroffe School to reach Hollywood in 2014, where he took acting classes.

He said: "I landed the role of a bad guy in the TV series The Punisher, though the absolute highlight was meeting Dolly Parton and finding out she is just a s lovely a person in real life."

Missing "country pubs and proper beer", Tom returned to West Dorset where he was compelled to bring his love of cinema to the Shave Cross Inn in the Marshwood Vale.

"Taking on a pub during a pandemic meant we had to keep adapting," Tom added. "Drive-in screenings at our 'Jurassic Parking' nights enabled us to bring food and drink to customers' cars. The Truman Show was an especially good fit for lockdown life."

Tom has plans for more outdoor films, 'Shave Cross Under The Stars', and a Shrek Burlesque show in October.

'Flee' is being shown as part of Bridport's film festival, From Page To Screen.

The award-winning animation tells the true story of an adult Afghan refugee confronting their traumatic childhood experience of human trafficking. Film critic Mark Kermode gives it five stars and said: "Ultimately, this depicts a triumph of the human spirit and a coming-of-age narrative as gripping as the most finely wrought drama."

As part of the festival this year From Page To Screen is organising a raffle to raise funds for the Disasters Emergency Committee's Ukraine Humanitarian and Afghanistan Crisis Appeals. Local businesses have donated a range of prizes, including two places at Mark Hix's special 'Kitchen Table' event on May 23 worth £450, a Merino lambswool and silk scarf from Wallace and Sewell worth £120, a selection of vintage soundtrack albums from Clocktower Music and a Super 8 camera and rolls of film from the festival committee's Nick Goldsmith, who produced 'The Hitchicker's Guide To The Galaxy'.

Film memorabilia has also been provided by Claire Nuttall from Bridport's Ukraine Volunteer Group, including a sought after 'No Time To Die' Bond 2019 stunt crew t-shirt.

Claire said: "Over the past few weeks of sorting the mass of donations of humanitarian aid at the warehouse we've had use of on St Michael's Trading Estate, we have set aside items for Ukrainian fundraising and will be having a celebratory sale there on the bank holiday weekend, 10am to 4pm, April 30 to May 2 with music, art, food and drinks, alongside a clothes sale featuring everything from jumble bargains to designer and vintage treasures."

Tom is also providing a raffle prize of a gift box of beer from Gyle 59 brewery, plus a bottle of the '9.2 Anti Imperial Beetroot Stout' specially created for Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. He hopes to give the president a case of it one day, or even vodka from the distillery he is planning to set up at Korcszowa on the Polish border to generate jobs for Ukrainian refugees, accommodation for volunteers and proceeds for sending to Ukraine.

The £1 raffle tickets can be bought for a single entry or in £10 and £20 multiples by texting PAGE2SCREEN to 70215 and they will be drawn at Bridport Arts Centre at 10pm on Sunday, May 1.

Flee will be shown on Friday, April 29 at 5pm in Bridport Arts Centre, with Tom Littledyke speaking after the film.

The From Page To Screen film festival runs from April 27 to May 1 and tickets can be found at Bridport-arts.com or Bridport Tourist Information Centre.

Visit frompagetoscreen.info for more information.