Eight more ambulances – as seen on TV!

On 31 st May we set off in convoy to deliver more ambulances to Ukraine. Unlike many of the previous hard-charging drives across six countries in a long weekend, this was a slower drive intended to deliver a clutch of vehicles and a mountain of medical equipment to where it is needed. Pacing the journey allowed us to deliver in bulk and we delivered eight ambulances, each full of medical equipment.

But 31 May is not where it begins

Long before the grand depart from the East Riding of Yorkshire, a monumental fundraising effort took place.

This covered London, Suffolk and Yorkshire, and garnished support from a large group of private donors, small businesses, national organisations and more local trusts. In the wonderful community of Southwold in Suffolk (led by John Nickell-Lean and Jane Miller OBE), the most recent event saw Emma Freud and Richard Curtis as the dog show judges.

At the same time Help4Ukraine, in partnership with Ukraine Charity ran a Black Tie Dinner at Stationers Hall in London. Guest speakers at the event were Stephanie Baker and John Sweeney.

Thank you also to Blythe Valley Rotary and Mayfair Rotary.

Funds raised, the detailed planning was then down to the team of Mark and Simon from Help4Ukraine. Vehicles were sourced, as were the medical supplies to fill them (plus a generator). Next, they took on the huge task of making sure every vehicle had all the support equipment needed (for the journey but also for its new drivers in Ukraine), arranged the convoy route, organised stops en-route, and the booking of safe passage and return for all. A huge task for anyone, but for them doing this in their spare time, outside of work, it was a mammoth undertaking.

Our mission to deliver eight ambulances

Our journey began on the overnight ferry and soon we were in Holland – not delayed too much by the need to change a wheel before leaving the boat! Soon we were heading for the German border and on beyond Kessel towards our stopping point. Eight ambulances in a convoy works very well when the roads are wide, there’s not too much traffic and few lorries. As we hit queues or articulated lorries we have to learn to navigate through, pulling in and out as we go, staying in a single line and not disrupting too much other road users.

Occasional traffic jams brings different challenges. Ambulances at the back seize a gap and leapfrog the others before slowing down to let them all pull in front. In between, the occasional thunderstorm, a detour over a (very nice) bridge and the odd missed turn required some hard charging to catch up. All part of the experience!

Shared rooms in Germany and Poland were fine; more importantly, there was ample secure parking for eight large vehicles. At the border the usual game of paperwork whack-a-mole as we get every chit and stamp on every document. Thorough checks, of course, for each vehicle and its contents but after a few hours we were soon on our way to Ukraine and to meet with Save Kyiv and two film crews.

Once handover is complete, our job is done but the task continues. All eight ambulances were now on their way to their final destinations in Odesa, Kramatorsk, Sumy, Cherkasy, Slavyansk and Kharkiv. Each vehicle has already been assigned a medical group and will be used to extract wounded from remote locations to bring back to field hospitals. Long before we depart we know exactly where and, specifically to whom each vehicle is going.

Job done we return via Poland for trains and flights home. Already we are planning our next fundraiser events and our next mission. If you want to do this, or want to help in any way we’d love to hear from you. For now it’s a huge thank you from the team for all your support in making this happen.