The ambulance service provides emergency trips day and night 365 days of the year free of charge.

It is a five hour walk to the nearest bus. Without the ambulance, patients would have to be carried on a stretcher. There are no taxis and villagers do not own cars.

A 4-wheel drive vehicle is essential due to the rough roads and steep mountainous terrain.

The current vehicle has been on the road for 13 years. Maintenance costs are extremely high and tyres have to be changed frequently. It is important that the ambulance does not break down frequently or spend long periods in the garage for repairs. A replacement ambulance is therefore needed.

Cases include pregnant women having complications during labour and patients with malaria, typhoid, pneumonia, snake bites and broken bones.

Village Africa's ambulance serves a population of around 9,500 people in Yamba, Milingano and Makanya villages.

Village Africa plans to buy a new Toyota Landcruiser hardtop long wheelbase and will modify it to suit the rocky and often muddy terrain.

Please note Village Africa treats all Gift Aid as unallocated.

If for any reason Village Africa cannot buy an ambulance, donations will be used for our health and education work.

When we started this campaign, we set the target based on the price we expected the vehicle would cost in five years time and assumed that the exchange rate would stay the same or even get worse. Recently, we were delighted to discover that the vehicle cost had not risen as much as expected and the exchange rate was much better, meaning we were now close to raising the funds required to buy the vehicle. Once we have purchased it, there are a number of modifications needed so it can serve as an ambulance and these are expected to cost another £2,800, which has not been included in the new target.