Knackered Nissan’s 10,000-mile adventure through remote areas of Europe and Asia raises cash for cancer and asthma
A trio of adventurous Dumfries teenagers has accepted a charity challenge to drive an old banger 10,000 miles to Mongolia for charity.
Photography student Lewis Stewart-Gault (19), his school-leaver cousin Ewan Donald and sports coach Sam Hall (19) will tackle mountain, desert and steppe in a 1 litre Nissan Micra – brightly painted by their sponsors AMD Contract Services Ltd.
The annual Mongol Rally gets going in mid-July and the team, who call themselves The Yurt Lockers, hope to cross the finish line in Ulan Ude in early September.
Lewis, who studies at Dumfries and Galloway College, said: “It’s going to be an amazing adventure – last year I drove across the USA from LA to Washington, but this will be something else.
“All of us love the idea of having a real adventure and of doing a bit of good by raising money for good causes at the same time – the charities we have chosen are all close to us one way or another.”
All the money they raise will be split between Multiple System Atrophy Trust, Myositis UK, Asthma UK, the Teenage Cancer Trust, Crohns and Colitis – with a further sum going to Coolearth, an the chosen charity of event organisers The Adventurists.
Around £1,000 has already been pledged but they would like to see this more than double by the time they set off – people are invited to give online or they have an all-day fundraiser this Saturday at the Craigdarroch Arms in Moniave.
The outward journey, which starts at the Goodwood Formula 1 racetrack near London, has no strict course and entrants are encouraged to take unusual routes.
The Yurt Lockers expect to cross around 18 different borders as they pass through Europe and along the Black Sea coat of Turkey and onwards to Mongolia.
Their car will be carrying tents, food, water, fuel and other the other necessities for travellers who will be far beyond the reach of breakdown services and potentially hundreds of miles from the nearest garage.
And their reward when they arrive – Lewis said: “We have a secret compartment in the car for some whisky. And we’ll be breaking that out for a dram when we get there!”
After that, of course, there’s just the minor matter of the drive home.
- To make a donation go to the Justgiving page at https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/TheYurtLockers
- To follow the team on Facebook go to https://www.facebook.com/TheYurtLocker/
