Leeds to Mongolia: Epic journey for ambulance

Twin brothers Matthew and William Wild, Oliver Hayes and Megan Hampton, who are all 23 years old, will make the epic 10,000 mile journey from Ilkley later this year.

The team, who grew up in the town and go under the name ‘One Steppe Beyond’, will be flying the flag for Yorkshire in the 2016 Mongolia Charity Rally - a pan-continental road trip for charity across mountain ranges, deserts and more barren and inhospitable lands.

For One Steppe Beyond the rally involves buying a vehicle which can be used as an ambulance in the UK and then, on July 8, driving it 10,000 miles from Yorkshire to deliver it to a hospital in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia - in a bid to alleviate a shortfall of emergency vehicles.  

Matthew Wild, a graduate civil engineer in Sheffield, said: “In rural areas of Mongolia access to primary health care is severely limited by both the scale of the country and poor existing road infrastructure. Providing an off-road ambulance to Mongolia will enable local hospitals to engage communities further afield whilst helping to meet the current shortfall of ambulances.

“We also aim to address the issue of worldwide healthcare inequality through educating and raising awareness in the UK via social media. Through the act of physically driving from Yorkshire to Mongolia we hope to communicate an idea of global connectivity across international borders.”

The team is appealing to anyone who can help source a vehicle and for sponsorship. The rally is part of charity Go Help’s Ambulance Project. The team is raising money for the ambulance, medical equipment and a donation to Go Help.