David Hughes, who chairs the tourist group, has recalled his time delivering aid during a mercy mission in Ukraine where Russian forces sent over “a few drones and missiles” while he was convoying through the war-torn country.
Hughes was volunteering for the Scottish charity Pick-ups For Peace (P4P) which aims to take off-road and pick-up vehicles to Ukraine to be used for emergency purposes along with other supplies.
The NC500 boss set off with a convoy of other volunteers in November last year and was the 17th group to complete the journey with the charity reaching the milestone of 500 vehicles handed over.
READ MORE: BBC issues most corrections for Israel-Palestine coverage in 2024
The 27-vehicle strong convoy included drivers from across the UK and from across the world, including the Netherlands and the United States.
“I was alone in my vehicle, a wonderful 20-year-old Toyota Land Cruiser, and set off from Edinburgh, collecting supplies in Kelso,” Hughes said, according to the Ross-shire Journal.
“I was carrying motor oil, AdBlue, a power generator, PPE and, sadly, body bags.”
Hughes said he headed to Newcastle and then took an overnight ferry to Amsterdam.
He then drove to Germany and then went to Wroclaw in southern Poland where the group stayed overnight and got to know each other.
“Setting off the following morning, we reached the Poland-Ukraine border by mid-afternoon, and then spent three or four hours going through border checks,” Hughes said.
“By the time we were all through the crossing it was dark.”
The convoy’s final destination was the centre of Lviv, the largest city in western Ukraine, which was about 50 miles from the border crossing.
“We had a police escort with blue and red lights flashing the whole way,” Hughes said.
He added: “The instruction from the police was, ‘Hazards on, headlights on, stay as close as possible to the vehicle in front, no gaps for others to pull into and don’t stop for anything!’.
“It was great fun – and what an adrenaline rush.”
Hughes completed the 1215-mile journey from Edinburgh to reach the City Hall at Lviv to help deliver the supplies.
People fleeing Lviv during Russia’s invasion
“The following day we had an official handover ceremony with the city and regional mayors, a representative from the British Embassy, and various senior Ukrainian Army officers – plus a military band,” Hughes said.
“We also had the opportunity to mix with and chat to Ukrainian Army members and to local people.
“They left us in no doubt at all about how useful and important the P4P charity vehicles and supplies are – and these convoys also give them a tangible sign of the support they have from the UK and other places.”
Hughes, a retired chartered accountant, first visited the Ukrainian city of Lviv in 2008, when one of his Scottish clients, Angus farmer Mark Laird, asked him to help look after his farming interests in the country.
Laird was one of the founders of P4P charity which he established in 2023 to help deliver vehicles and vital supplies to Ukraine in the wake of the Russian invasion.
The off-road vehicles are either donated to P4P or the charity raises funds to buy them.
The vehicles are then loaded up with donated supplies and driven across Europe in convoys and delivered to Ukraine.
“We were very conscious that the war wasn’t far away,” Hughes said.
“On our last night in Lviv we spent a few hours in an air raid shelter because the Russians had decided to send over a few drones and missiles. It was a real air raid.”
“Doing something like this is truly humbling.”
He added: “It brings home just what an amazing thing Mark and his colleagues have done in helping to set P4P up and organise convoys; it introduced me to a group of great people prepared to give their time and accept the risks of taking part in the convoy; and it was abundantly evident from the warm welcome we received just how important these convoys are to Ukraine.”