All,
As you may know, Ellie and I are taking part in this year's Plymouth-Dakar Challenge.
Over xmas and new year, we'll be travelling from London, through France and Spain, then across Morocco, the Sahara, and Mauritania to Senegal and the Gambia, to help raise money for charity, both here and there. Over 4,000 miles, over some very inhospitable terrain, with no real backup.
The rules of the event say you can spend a maximum of £100 on buying the car, and £15 on preparing it. When (and if) you arrive, the car and all equipment are sold off for local charities. We're taking a 1988 Saab 900i, which we were donated - so we're £100 up to start with! Sven's not in bad nick, and should make the trip - we hope....
In addition, we're raising money for two local Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centres - Ellie's mother has suffered from this for 40 years, and is wheelchair bound - she's lucky. Many become severely disabled very quickly, and many don't survive. MS is one of the most common neurological disabilities, and there's no cure for it.
These therapy centres run on a shoestring, to help people living with MS to manage as best they can - whether that's just learning to cope with the symptoms, or whether it's helping them to retain and regain the strength and motor skills they can so easily lose. They're doing a fantastic job.
We've now got a PayPal link up on our team website -
Please - help us to raise as much as we can for these worthwhile charities! Thank you.... (Oh, and watch the site while we're away to find out how we're doing.)
-- Adrian Chapman ac-nospam-at-TooMany2cvs-dot-co-dot-uk Team Desert Vikings Plymouth-Dakar Challenge 2004