Harrogate’s John Shackleton, 85, to embark on 49th humanitarian trip today

A Harrogate man will begin his drive from Harrogate to Georgia today to deliver an ambulance on his 49th humanitarian trip.

John Shackleton, 85, has bought and stocked 36 ambulances over the last 30 years to provide emergency vehicles and vital medical equipment to humanitarian organisations in Eastern Europe and beyond.

Last month, Mr Shackleton appealed for co-drivers last month and has since been “inundated” with applications.

One passenger, a Harrogate man who works as a veterinary regional manager, finishes work at midday today and will venture straight to Georgia.

The other, who is from High Wycombe, is an army paramedic who took the opportunity while on leave.

Mr Shackleton told the Stray Ferret a Berlin-based film crew also contacted him to follow the 3,000-mile journey. The producers will be dropped off en route in Berlin.

The group plans to deliver the ambulance, that Mr Shackleton collected from Amsterdam earlier this week, to a small organisation building a hospice on a farm on the Georgian and Russian border.

He said the organisation has been “praying for an ambulance for years”.

When asked if this would be Mr Shackleton’s final mission, he added:

“Well, I’ve said my trips before would be my final one and I’m still going now.

“I had a heart attack – which I’m mending from very quickly – but I lost a lot of weight and, as I’m struggling to put it back on, it’s becoming difficult to chop the wood I sell to fund the ambulances.”

Mr Shackleton anticipates the journey will take around 10 days. He said:

“I’m not nervous about this trip – I don’t get nervous. If problems are there, I solve them. They’re there to be solved.

“It’s a waste of time to worry.”

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.

This time, the team will stay in Georgia for just under a week to help the organisation, before hitchhiking to the nearest international airport to return home.

Mr Shackleton and his co-drivers will depart from his Harrogate home at midday today.

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

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

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.

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Harrogate’s John Shackleton hoping to deliver ambulance to Ukraine

Harrogate’s John Shackleton, 83, is hoping to deliver an ambulance to war-torn Ukraine in September.

Local hero John has delivered almost 40 ambulances to hospices and hospitals in Eastern Europe since 1990 through his charity Aid to Eastern Europe.

He is no stranger to Ukraine, having previously delivered ambulances there in 2014 and 2016. He described it as “such a beautiful country”.

He said if the situation with the war improves, he will buy an ambulance from auction in Amsterdam and drive into Ukraine so it can be used by people injured in the conflict.

If he’s not able to enter the country, he has a backup plan to deliver the ambulance to a hospice in Georgia.

John said:

“Its very sad, I’ve been trying to contact my pals there but haven’t been able to get through. The situation is terrible.

“Ukrainians are exceedingly friendly, lovable people and they are very devoted to their country. They are so powerful in their thinking, they will die for their country”.

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To raise money to buy the vehicles, John chops down trees, cuts lawns, mends bicycles — anything to raise the £12,000 to £15,000 it costs to purchase an ambulance.

But he is currently under doctor’s orders to rest after suffering a heart attack last month.

It happened while he was chopping a tree down at the Oval in Harrogate last month whilst he had his chainsaw in hand.

Fortunately, he had his team with him and they took him straight to Harrogate District Hospital.

Amazing adventures

In January, The Stray Ferret met John at his home to discuss his amazing charity adventures and life.

Since then, he’s been featured on BBC News and had offers from Japanese, German and Gibraltar TV to come on his next trip.

He added:

“I don’t know how to deal with this, never had this publicity!”

To donate and help John buy a new ambulance, email johnshackleton@aidtoeasterneurope.co.uk