Charlie in mercy mission to Mongolia

- 10 July 2008

A student is preparing to drive 10,000 miles in an ambulance with medical equipment to provide a lifeline for patients in Asia.

Charlie Hogg, 21, of Redbridge Lane West, Wanstead, will travel across Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Russia and the dirt tracks of Kazakhstan and Mongolia to the outskirts of the Mongolian capital, Ulan Bator.

He and friend Matthew Burgum, 21, from Lancaster University, aim to make the journey in five weeks when they set off on Friday, July 18.

Their aim is to deliver a dual purpose vehicle that can be used as an ambulance and a mobile clinic for vaccinations and screenings in rural areas where most people do not have direct access to medical care.

"We are coming up to the end of our time at university and we both wanted to do something worthwhile," said Charlie, a final year business student.

"It is a country that does not benefit from aid provisions like a lot of African countries do.

"At a time when knife crime is in Ilford, we are trying our best to reverse the image of young people by doing something like this."

Mongolia is a large country with a small population and medical teams often struggle to reach patients with their drugs and medical equipment.

The two friends have been working hard over the past four months to raise funds for their mercy mission.

They have collected £22,000 in total helped by backing from 38 companies.

"The ambulance is an ex-NHS vehicle," explained Charlie, who attended Forest School, College Place, Snaresbrook.

"We purchased it for £2,200 from a car dealer up north."

The pair are being helped by the charity Go Help, which is organising the ambulance's duty-free entry into Mongolia and arrangements at the clinic when they arrive.

"We will be based with the vehicle for a few weeks, showing them around it because we have got to know it and the equipment quite well," said Charlie.

Leytonstone company Unsworth Global Logistics is among the sponsors of the trip.

To see more pictures and learn more about their journey, visit www.ambulancetomongolia.com.