FUNDRAISING
Occasionally vehicles come up for sale that we don’t like to refuse. We don’t always have the funds to hand but somehow, through fundraising, donations, loans and determination we manage to find just enough to buy them at a good price.
This was the case for the latest ex-ambulance (£3,200) and a Vauxhall Antara 4x4 (£700). But we made the commitment to buy and then set about finding the money. We did a talk at the Kirkcudbright Rotary club and the Parish Church, which resulted in additional very generous donations, and sold prints and cards at the Art and Craft event, which alone raised over £1,200. A grand total of almost £4,000 was raised in a matter of a few weeks - which only goes to show that people will rise to the occasion when the need is so great and urgent.
A huge thank you to everyone who donated or bought items to make this possible. The vehicles were later checked out, fitted with new tyres and batteries, and sat in the compound whilst we set out on the next journey to Kharkiv with an emergency fire van and bowser, full of fire and medical equipment and an estate car full of new childrens clothes and new baby boxes, both vehicles having been donated.
OFF TO A GREAT START FOR 2026
With so many donations, including a large box van, we now have 3 vehicles going out in Jan-Feb 2026.
The first is a Renault Traffic in early January, being driven by Andrey, our Ukrainian friend, piled to the roof with emergency medical supplies for hospitals. This van will then replace the Fire van which was wrecked in a drone attack in late November, seriously injuring the driver - a good friend.
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Then in February Iain and I are taking out the big box van and the Kuga 4x4, again stocked out with medical equipment, stretchers, wheelchairs, hospital beds and medical supplies, as well as new-baby boxes, new baby clothes and nappies.