A FORMER NHS emergency ambulance will soon be on its way to the Ukraine battlefront after caring communities in Williton and Watchet came together to raise the money to buy the vehicle, equip it with medical supplies, and provide volunteers to drive it for four days across Europe.

After the scheme was hatched last August, families and friends joined informal organisations such as the Williton Friday Walking Group, to raise the money to buy the £5,500 nine-year-old Suffolk ambulance, which can take up to four casualties at a time.

Fund-raising included a walking group sponsored walk involving 14 members with an average age of 76 years which brought in more than £1,500.

A spokesperson said: “There has been an incredible local response.

“We did not go to companies or make it a business-type affair.

“It was a personal project involving friends, neighbours, and people who just knew each other.

“We organised jumble sales, car boots, sold stuff online, and held events including an Indian night at the Washford Inn and race nights at Williton’s Wyndham Arms, raising nearly £8,000 in all.”

The ambulance, loaded with medical and other supplies, left Williton last month, driven by the Williton husband and wife who had the original idea of sending medical help to Ukraine.

Military restrictions meant the vehicle had to be driven to Poland, where it was parked in the grounds of the Bishop’s Palace, in Warsaw, and officially handed over to a charity which had permission to complete the journey to Ukraine.

The spokesperson said the ambulance would first go to Kiev and was then expected to see duty on the front lines.

Supplies on board, costing more than £1,700, include specialist major war-wound dressings costing £40 each, clothes, blankets, and other essentials which are scarce in war-torn Ukraine.