Mark Lloyd and Alistair Owen of Cheswardine, and Simon Roberts of Telford, will be undertaking a gruelling 1,600 mile-round journey to Barcelona on Thursday 23rd May in a car worth less than £250, to raise much-needed funds for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity.
The team of three, named ‘Med.Air.Dare’, will be driving alongside 152 other people and 80 cars from across the UK as part of the ‘Barcelona Bangers’ challenge, an annual event which sees participants raise money for their chosen charities by travelling across Europe from Calais, through central France and Spain.
Mark Lloyd explained: “We’re really looking forward to what the weekend has in store, not only will we be travelling through the most scenic sites in Europe including Paris, Perpignan and the Pyrenees, but we’ll be undertaking some difficult ‘Top Gear’ type challenges throughout the entire weekend too.”
Since 1991, Midlands Air Ambulance has responded to more than 38,000 missions, working out at nearly ten per day, making it one of the longest established and busiest air ambulance organisations in the UK.
“Each mission costs the charity approximately £2,500 to take passengers to appropriate Trauma Centres in under 15 minutes, with the crew comprising of a pilot, two paramedics or flight doctors, plus full life-support medical equipment,” Mark explained. “We wanted to champion the fantastic work that the whole team do on a daily basis, by raising as much as we can from this event as every single donation and sponsorship will help enable the great service to continue, ultimately saving lives.”
In excess of £6 million is needed each year to keep its three air ambulances operational, which is raised entirely from gifts, donations and bequests through Wills via the public and local businesses.
“We’ve chosen to travel in style and have purchased a 1996 Honda Civic for £250, due to its proven track record and enviable reliability. We’d really welcome any donations or sponsors to support the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, and this can be done by visiting http://www.justgiving.com/Mark-Lloyd3 or by texting the code MAAD59 following the amount of £5, £10, or £20 to 70070,” Mark concluded.
Shropshire Live is regulated by