The Trusty Steed
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The Trusty Steed
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<font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">In the summer of 2011, whilst pottering about in my tractor I furiously tried to sign up to the Mongol rally on my phone, with little success Matt and I decided to go up to the Isle of Arran in mid-September and with a bit of luck we secured our place and our team ‘Got Roll’ (chosen due to unfortunate circumstances the day before) was born.</font></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Little then happened until Rob and Jem joined the team in December and the ball started to get rolling. We all knew very little about what we were getting ourselves into but how hard could it be? </font></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"> </font></font><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"> </font></font><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">After debating on a route for months we finally came to the decision that 17 countries and 10,000 miles would do. We’ll be driving through UK, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Roman<span class="textexposedshow">ia, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan (again), Russia (again) and finally into Mongolia.</span></font></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><span class="textexposedshow"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Soon after, the mad rush began to organise the five visas we needed for our route and after hours of paperwork they were off and on their way to be processed. Next it was the car, the rules of the rally state that no more than a 1.2 litre car may be used, fortunately we came across a little 1.0 litre 2003 Suzuki Swift and within hours it was ours. Now all that remains to get is the huge array of spare parts, tyres, modifications, tools, entertainment, fuel and that all important PA system to warn off any unwelcome Yak’s we may come across on the way.</font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><font face="Calibri"><font size="3"><span class="textexposedshow">Nevertheless, this is more than just four boys in a car. We have chosen two charities to raise money for. Help for Heroes, </span>to help the wounded Servicemen and women returning from Afghanistan and Iraq and<span class="textexposedshow"> The Lotus Children’s Centre who</span> work with vulnerable Mongolian children and families to provide the basic human rights of shelter, food and education.<span class="textexposedshow"></span></font></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><span class="textexposedshow"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">If you would like to sponsor our adventure via either of the charities, the easiest way to do so would be via the two links below:</font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt"><a href="http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/GotRoll" target="_blank"><font color="#0000ff" face="Calibri" size="3">http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/GotRoll</font></a><br /><font face="Calibri" size="3"> <br /> </font><a href="https://www.justgiving.com/GotRoll" target="_blank"><font color="#0000ff" face="Calibri" size="3">https://www.justgiving.com/GotRoll</font></a><span class="textexposedshow"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span> </span>Thank you from the ‘Got Roll’ Team.</font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font>