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Sept 2023

Last Updated: 01/09/2023

Community

Harrogate's John Shackleton, 85, seeks co-drivers for final ambulance mission

by Flora Grafton

| 02 Sept, 2023

John Shackleton has funded, bought and stocked 33 ambulances, and delivered them to 22 countries.

An 85-year-old Harrogate man is on the hunt for two co-drivers to join him on an epic journey to deliver an ambulance to Georgia.

John Shackleton has bought and stocked 35 ambulances over the last 30 years to provide emergency vehicles and medical equipment to humanitarian organisations in Eastern Europe and beyond.

Now, he’s looking for two co-drivers to join him on his final journey to the Georgian border.

He joked:

"I did actually have two co-drivers lined up; one was my grandson who was offered a gig with his band in New York, which he couldn’t turn down, and the other selfishly had a heart attack!”

Mr Shackleton told the Stray Ferret his only criteria was "to be reasonably good drivers and to be easy going like me – after all, we do live in the ambulance together".

He plans to deliver the ambulance to a small organisation building a hospice on a farm on the Georgian and Russian border.

It has been praying for an ambulance for years, according to Mr Shackleton.

He added:

"I’m happy to stop and see some sights or landmarks, but people do need to understand that this isn’t a jolly.

"This is humanitarian work — you have to put the hours in."

Two-week mission

Mr Shackleton anticipates the journey will take anywhere from one week to 10 days to complete. The team will stay in Georgia for about two days before hitchhiking to the nearest international airport to return home.

He said:

"I chop and sell firewood to raise money to buy the ambulances.

"I have one ready to go in Amsterdam – which the co-drivers would also join me in picking up before embarking on the journey – but I have to confirm my passengers before I can collect it.

"It’s a process that takes a couple of days as I set up beds for the co-drivers and areas to carry the food and medical within the ambulance.”

Mr Shackleton began his humanitarian work after seeing news reports revealing the poor conditions of Romanian orphanages following the borders opening in 1990. He was joined by a team of volunteers to install flushing toilets and showers at the orphanage. He said:

"I imagine it will be my last journey — it’s hard to raise the money. But I said my recent few trips would each be my last and that didn't end up being the case, so it's a bit of a pinch of salt situation!

"However, I have just been given an order to quit the garage I am using to store my logs, and without somewhere to store the logs I will have to stop selling and that is my main income for the next ambulance.

"I know storage is very hard to find, but it's worth a try if anyone reading has an empty garage to help me store my logs."

Mr Shackleton is hoping to leave for Georgia in the next two weeks and is urgently encouraging those that are interested in joining him on the journey to get in touch.

People can register their interest by emailing johnshackleton@aidtoeasterneurope.co.uk or calling 01423 871255.

Click here to find out more about John Shackleton's previous trips.

Harrogate pensioner appeals for cash to fund ambulance for quake-hit Turkey

Harrogate’s John Shackleton selling firewood to fund 48th ambulance

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Harrogate's John Shackleton, 85, seeks co-drivers for final ambulance mission

Two-week mission

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