Dean Griffin, (aka Travelling Veteran) is just about to take on his biggest challenge to date!
Dean has previously been the head of the Northampton Poppy Appeal during which time he was responsible for raising over £260,000.
He has also carried out numerous voluntary roles at Cynthia Spencer Hospice.
Now he puts most of his time towards his YouTube channel Travelling Veteran with which he travels round the world completing crazy challenges. We’ve previously seen his drive an old banger from Northampton to Gibraltar to raise funds for The Veterans Charity.
One of the upcoming series of videos is titled “The Veterans First Aid Kit” in which he will be focusing on helping Armed Forces Veterans deal with their PTSD after combat, this will be delivered with the help of The Veterans Community Network.
Dean says, “I want to reach out to those Veterans, for whatever reason, cannot or will not come out of their homes, hopefully by using the YouTube portal I am able to help them to live a better life”.
With his latest challenge he will be part of a team delivering ambulances and aid supplies from the UK to Ukraine to help those who face desperate circumstances due to the war in Ukraine.
The ambulances have been donated from the UK ambulance services and delivered to Ukraine with the help of The International Aid Trust https://internationalaidtrust.org.uk/ The International Aid Trust has been supporting the people of Ukraine since 1991 with their latest efforts being to support those affected by the recent atrocities.
This trip will see 4 ambulances and two 4x4 pickups being taken by 12 volunteers to Kiev, a trip of over 2000 miles, this trip should take around 4 days to complete.
The vehicles will be departing Bolton Town Hall on 9th March to begin their journey.
Dean goes on to say “I have done charity work pretty much non-stop for nearly 40 years, all charities need money, and they need peoples time, without both of them, they wouldn’t be half as successful in delivering the help that is so desperately needed”.
Dean – “If I can come into this world, and leave at some point in the future, having made a difference to at least one person, then my life is complete!”
To deliver an ambulance to Ukraine costs around £1,000 each, this covers fuel, ferry, documentation etc.
So far, Dean is around half way to his target, and would love to reach that target before he departs for Ukraine.
The GoFundMe link for donations is here: gofund.me/c4296ad6
YouTube video of the last handover: youtu.be/TTGk5gaVUdA?si=IG8g7s1SNlHdZfyA
