Two of Aberdeen RNLI’s finest are swapping choppy waters and yellow wellies for a 2,000-mile road trip to Ukraine in a 4×4.
When the war first started, Cal Reed and Grant Bruce wanted to do something to help.
The Aberdeen RNLI lifeboat crew has many links to Eastern Europe, with Cal completing a secondment to the Polish lifeboat service in 2008.
However, they wanted to aid the situation and not add to the chaos.
Knowing the power of a structured, co-ordinated approach, the duo waited for a more organised opportunity.
That was when Cal, who is coxswain and mechanic at Aberdeen lifeboat station, reached out to Jeeps for Peace.
After chatting with his fellow Aberdeen RNLI crewmate Grant, the pair decided to sign up to fill a 4×4 with essential medical supplies and chart a course for Ukraine.
Vehicles help with ‘hammered’ Ukraine infrastructure
So far, Jeeps for Peace has delivered around 200 four-wheel drive vehicles to be used on the frontline.
The idea is to transport aging vehicles that could be repurposed to help fill the gaping hole of lost vehicles.
While their average lifespan reduces dramatically on the frontline lasting around 90 days, the vehicles get well used.
Grant, 45, said: “These vehicles are old and not really viable for UK roads going forward but will do a really good job out there.
“The infrastructure got hammered and has been consistently hammered.
“These vehicles get repurposed for absolutely everything, ambulances for getting people to and from, casualty evacuation, moving equipment etc.
“It might have done 15 years on a farm here, but out there it’s absolutely perfect as long as it’s running nice and easy for them to fix.”
Huge journey from Aberdeen to Ukraine similar to life on North Sea with RNLI
The friends of 11 years are carrying out the 2,000-mile trip this autumn.
While the swap from North Sea waves to European roads may seem a radical change, Cal, who “stumbled” into a career with RNLI 17 years ago and has not looked back, said there were many similarities.
“There’s parallels to be drawn there between what we’re doing and what goes on on the lifeboat,” the 37-year-old said.
“The RNLI gives us a £2 million boat to look after properly and this charity is essentially giving us a vehicle to get all the way across Europe to get to a pretty gnarly place and we go pretty gnarly places with the boat.
“You have that sense of responsibility of I’ve got to take this forward with the task in hand basically.”
Confident due to strong friendship in life and death situations
The Aberdeen RNLI pair will be driving to join a group in Edinburgh before meeting a larger convoy to Ukraine somewhere in Europe.
While a few jokes about each other’s driving are being thrown about, one man for backing into a lifeboat station and another for driving the wrong way round a Norway roundabout, Cal said it was their experience with RNLI that gave him confidence.
“I’m doing it is because I’m doing it with Grant,” he added.
“Over a decade I’ve been in situations where I’ve had to trust Grant with my life and vice versa.
“As silly as we get, we know when it comes to the crunch, we’ll always look after each other and taking that forward into what we’re doing.
“We want to do this and we actually want to feel like we’re making a difference here.”
Describing being on a “17-metre plastic boat in the North Sea”, Grant added: “You know who your friends are very quickly.”
The friends set up a fundraiser for £3,000 to help cover the costs of getting them there. They have already reached 80% of their target.
Not letting the opportunity go to waste, they are also reaching out to friends in their network to fill the vehicle with essential kit.
If it goes well, Grant said they might consider a second convoy.
The marine consultant added: “We’re certainly not restricting it to one done cause I don’t think that’s really the spirit of it at all. I think if you’re going to commit to doing something, then you put in to it.”
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