Two Aberdeen graduates are preparing to embark on a 16,000-km charity rally – in an ambulance. Calum Hill and Mark Hadfield will buy an ambulance, drive it from London to Ulaanbaatar, and hand it over for use in the country’s first emergency services fleet.
The Aberdeen Scott Sutherland School of Architecture graduates have set up Archi-Ambulance – a charitable fund which is raising money to support GoHelp. The 24-year-olds also want to raise a minimum of £1,000 for the charity, which organizes the rally each year to help provide working emergency vehicles in different countries.
Hill said: “The emergency services are something we all rely on and perhaps take for granted in the UK. These vital services save lives every day. In some parts of the world, however, like Mongolia, these services do not exist. Due to the traditional, nomadic lifestyle, the majority of the Mongolian population live days away from medical services. A new ambulance service will not only provide a means to respond to emergencies, but will also work as a mobile hospital outreaching into remote areas, which will make a real difference.”
Along with Hadfield, he will embark on a journey across two continents and pass through more than 20 countries. They will set off in July and, in a bid to raise funds for their journey, the Archi-Ambulance team organized a music and comedy night on February 9.