Great Yarmouth duo David Bersconi and Ian Cade are taking on a banger challenge, driving from England to Italy in five days, to raise money to help local children with disabilities and terminal illness.
David, 52, and Ian, 46, will be lining up for the Motoscape Rally in September alongside dozens of other competitors – all of whom will be travelling in cars bought for £333 or less.
Travelling through France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany and Austria, the final stop on the 1,500 mile journey is Venice.
David, who works as a carer for the disabled in Great Yarmouth, said: “This is not a race, more of a fun rally. The serious side of it is that we want to use this as a way of raising money Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children to support equipment needs in Norfolk.”
Newlife is the largest charity funder of specialist equipment for children with disabilities and terminal illness in the UK.
“We chose Newlife after reading about how the charity had helped a girl in Great Yarmouth who has Cerebral Palsy and needed specialist seating. My cousin has Cerebral Palsy and that, combined with the fact that I work with disabled people and know some of the issues they have to live with on a daily basis, led to us back Newlife.
“We hope to raise £3,000 for the charity, specifically to fund specialist disability equipment for children in Norfolk. The Newlife guarantee that none of the money will be used for anything else – like administration – really appealed to us.”
David and Ian have paid £300 for the Ford Cougar V6 that they hope will support their fundraising efforts. David said: “Our local Ford dealership offered to strip the car down and give it a full service including any parts and labour for nothing. It has now had a new paint job, ready for the off on September 5.”
You can follow their progress – both in the run-up to and during the event – by going to https://www.facebook.com/banger.challenge. Anyone wanting to support their fundraising efforts can go to www.justgiving.com/euro-banger and donate.
Newlife Foundation provides a range of equipment support services for thousands of families of children with disabilities across the UK. In Norfolk, the charity has helped 121 children with equipment totalling more han £152,000.
With applications to Newlife Foundation at an all-time high, the charity is increasingly looking to ‘local heroes’ to help fund life-changing equipment for local children.
Newlife Operations Manager Stephen Morgan said: “Statutory services’ budgets all around the UK are being tightened, which means that without the support of organisations like Newlife Foundation many children will simply go without the specialist equipment they need to transform their daily lives. Applications are up 25 per cent on last year, so we are calling on ‘local heroes’ to donate or fundraise to help children with disabilities in their own counties.”
For more information about Newlife Foundation, go to www.newlifecharity.co.uk. All support services can be accessed via the Newlife Nurse Helpline – 0800 902 0095 (free from UK mobiles & landlines) or email nurses@newlifecharity.co.uk.
Pictured (L to R): David Bersconi and Ian Cade
Web: https://newlifecharity.co.uk
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