Friends buy ambulance to drive to Ukraine

Louise Holmes and Victoria Rothwell, along with three other friends, bought an ambulance to drive to Ukraine

Two women who helped buy an ambulance will now drive it full of aid supplies to Ukraine.

Friends Louise Holmes and Victoria Rothwell, from North Yorkshire, said they wanted to do something "direct and positive" to help those impacted by the war.

They teamed up with three other friends from across the UK to raise £7,000 to buy the vehicle.

Louise and Victoria will set off on the 1,234-mile (1,986km) trip to Lviv on Sunday to deliver the ambulance on Monday evening.

Once there, they will meet up with the Christian Medical Association of Ukraine, which will take the ambulance to wherever it is needed.

Speaking to BBC Radio York, Louise said she had been involved with the non-profit organisation Mighty Convoy since just after the war started.

"About five weeks ago, I thought it was about time that we did something really direct and positive, so I talked to four friends on a walk in the woods,” she said.

Victoria and Louise received ambulance driving lessons from Yorkshire Ambulance Service

Victoria added that they had explained to their children about the war in Ukraine and the conversation inspired them to be more involved.

"I think the difficulty in that led us to the conclusion that we need an all-women ambulance going," she said.

"Fundraising with five mums, the cause just resonated and we gave ourselves four weeks to raise money."

The women said an ambulance was vital for the aid work in Ukraine, as big aid agencies could not reach the frontlines.

'A lot of thought'

To make sure they were prepared for the trip, Yorkshire Ambulance Service offered to teach Louise and Victoria how to drive the ambulance.

"Richard was a fantastic teacher," Louise said. "We thought we were going to go around a car park but before we knew it, we were on the A64, then the A1, then we were going through Selby on market day.”

Although Louise and Victoria plan to drive to Lviv, they will meet up with aid workers in Poland if the situation is not safe.

They said it "took a lot of thought beforehand" but they were confident that enough due diligence was being taken.