Mighty Convoy, a British non-profit organisation that delivers ambulances and medical aid to Ukraine, has joined forces with two other charities to more effectively get aid to the sick and injured.

I travelled with Mighty Convoy a few years ago as it delivered three ambulances filled with emergency medical kit to the Christian Medical Association of Ukraine (CMAU) in the western city of Lviv.

With aid needed “now more than ever”, that partnership has been expanded to include the International Christian Medical and Dental Association (ICMDA) under a new campaign called Convoy of Hope, launched at the Palace of Westminster last week.

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So far, Mighty Convoy has raised £330,000 to take 12 convoys to Ukraine, delivering 49 vehicles (38 ambulances, nine pick-up trucks and two refrigerated lorries), 35 tonnes of aid and 30,000 meal packs.

The ICMDA and CMAU have, meanwhile, delivered and distributed medical equipment worth £10 million, including 120,000 pallets from the Nightingale hospitals created for the NHS at the height of the Covid pandemic.

“Nearly all of the Mighty Convoy ambulances are still in action,” founder Simon Brake told us last week. “And when Ukrainians tell us directly about the lives they’ve saved, we know we have to continue.”

His convoys operate primarily on a pay-to-drive model. Around £7000 is enough to buy and take one ambulance, which will be filled with donated medical supplies and typically is driven by those who raised the money.

Individuals, clubs and community groups are among those who have donated and made the trip (including one from Autocar’s publisher, Haymarket).

“We’ve built a community of like-minded people,” said Brake. If you like road trips, this is one of the most important and, glib though this might sound, enjoyable ones you will make.

Brake has been supported by Specialist Vehicle Solutions of Dudley in finding and servicing ambulances for the journey – ones at the right price and that will be reliable enough.