Launching Scotland's First Wish Ambulance Service

Aim

Help us build a safe, free and clinically supported Wish Journey service for people approaching the end of life.

When time is short, being somewhere that matters can mean everything.

Some places and moments carry a lifetime of meaning: a family home, a favourite beach, a family wedding, a football ground or simply somewhere peaceful with the people you love.

For someone approaching the end of life, serious illness can make even a short journey difficult or impossible. An ordinary car may no longer be safe or comfortable, and conventional transport may not be able to meet the person’s clinical needs.

What we are building

Wish Ambulance Scotland is being developed to provide free, planned and clinically supported Wish Journeys.

Our aim is to help people spend meaningful time in a place that matters to them, with the people who matter to them.

These journeys are not about how far someone travels. They are about choice, connection and dignity when time and mobility are limited.

The service is still in development and referrals are not yet open. Wish Ambulance Scotland will not be an emergency ambulance service or a replacement for routine patient transport.

Why we need your help

Wish Ambulance Scotland became a registered Scottish charity on 24 July 2026.

Before the first Wish Journey can take place, we must put the right equipment, people, insurance and clinical safeguards in place. We are raising funds now to complete that essential preparation and move the service closer to opening safely.

What your donation will help fund

• approved clinical and patient-comfort equipment
• insurance and essential operating arrangements
• volunteer checks, induction and role-specific training
• clinical governance, safeguarding and referral processes
• an initial fund for journey costs, including fuel, consumables and cleaning

Every contribution, whatever its size, helps move one practical part of the service closer to readiness: equipment secured, volunteers prepared and safeguards completed.

Who we are

We are Kieran Hutcheon, Karen Gill and Daniel Bickmore, the founding trustees of Wish Ambulance Scotland. We are all registered paramedics. Between us, our professional experience spans frontline ambulance services, primary care, events, film sets and work supporting legal services.

Through our work, we have seen how serious illness, reduced mobility and clinical needs can prevent someone from making a journey that matters to them.

We believe a dedicated Wish Journey service can bring real benefit by complementing, rather than replacing, existing health, care and patient transport services. It would meet a different need: providing free, planned and clinically supported journeys to places and occasions of personal significance.

If you believe people approaching the end of life should have the chance to spend meaningful time in a place that matters to them, please donate today and help us build Wish Ambulance Scotland safely.

Wish Ambulance Scotland SCIO is registered with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR). Registration Number SC055546.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 15th September 2026 at 1:35pm