Tom Welch is an ex Army Officer (Light Infantry), ex Banker and X Chromosome. Ian Foxley is an ex Army Officer (Royal Signals and Airborne Forces), ex IT Director for Domino's Pizza and a Why Chromosome. Together, we form part of the DNA chain that constitutes "The Pizza Delivery Boys" Team in PDC06. The Spark of Intelligent Life is added by “MyFanwy”, a Left Hand Drive 2CV Citroen Acadiane van, as used across France to deliver bread, vegetables etc. MyFanwy, or ‘My Fine One’, gained her name because we found her languishing in the small but picturesque village of Llangeryw in North Wales and could not resist the thought of “slipping inside MyFanwy for a long bumpy ride over Mountains and Dunes ”….!?! She is light enough to lift out of the sand dunes and mechanically simple enough for us to do running repairs if needed (at least that’s the theory anyway).
Although she started life as a quaint (and original) white and rust, we have now brushed her down, changed her Undies and dressed her in a smart new PINK party dress. She now has reflecting sunglasses and looks a real treat ready for us to sew on her SPONSORS’ sequins. For those of you who are wondering about the curious contraption surmounting her, it is a combined roof rack and pull-out tent frame, ingeniously designed to allow easy erection. After all, after a bumpy ride all day in MyFanwy…we’ll allow you to finish the rest of that series of neural connections ...
	Ian, Tom and MyFanwy will be accompanied throughout the trip by Captain Columbus Wishbone. In December 2005, they will begin their journey, driving 4,000 miles.   The distance from York (our starting point) to Banjul (the finish line) is about 4000 miles and we shall attempt to create a record for the Longest Overland Pizza Delivery - as a rationalisation (excuse) for our madness.   Our journey will take us through the UK, France, Spain, Gibraltar, Morocco, Western Sahara (including the Sahara Desert), Senegal, Mauritania, and The Gambia.
We estimate that the trip will take us about 3 to 4 weeks (MyFanwy only goes 80kph flat out with a tail wind) barring all accidents / breakages / border crossings / banditry / ill health / mosquitos / poor diet / dehydration / ambush …hmmm, this all sounds rather worrying … oh well, you only live once! CONTACT US AT ….. Ian (Utterly Barking Mad) Foxley 01653 619533 / 07720073916 ian.foxley@btinternet.com Tom (Less than a full Platoon) Welch 01653 619870 / 07734678960 tom.welch@acrepark.com

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Make-A-Wish Foundation UK

Make-A-Wish Foundation UK is the leading UK wishgranting charity with one simple aim - to turn the wishes of children aged 3 to 18 living with life-threatening illnesses into reality. With the help of more than 800 volunteers, corporate, celebrity and individual sponsors around the country, Make-A-Wish has granted 3,500 wishes since it began in 1986.

Captain Columbus Wishbone, or CW as he is known to his friends, is the intrepid explorer teddy bear who is the mascot of the Make-A-Wish Foundation UK. CW has already taken part in the BT Global Challenge yacht race (3 times), crossed Europe and America by Harley-Davidson, parachuted with the RAF Falcons, driven in the Le Mans 24 hour Race, and climbed Everest. This is the latest of his exploits and will form the basis for the Trans-Saharan episode in the “Adventures of Captain Columbus Wishbone and Crew”, a book and cartoon series which is currently in production and which, we hope, will also raise funds for the charity in the longer term. He is currently being fitted for his expedition outfit, Tuareg blue desert robes, by his wardrobe mistress, Joan Delaney, who devotes her free time and tailoring skills, often at very short notice, to ensure that he is suitably attired in bespoke outfits for each adventure and to her we owe our grateful thanks. Columbus Wishbone spends his restful periods in the United Kingdom where, as a celebrity, he makes guest appearances at children’s parties and public events helping with fund-raising for the Foundation and in granting wishes for children aged 3 – 18 learning to live with terminal illnesses.

About the Columbus Wishbone Books

The Columbus Wishbone books are intentionally written on a number of different levels in order to bring life, love and laughter to both you and your child. Each book in the series focuses on a different continent and the complementary crew member of the “Good Ship Guardian” to solve a difficult problem in each adventure. Most children have a special toy to whom they attribute lifelike characteristics and love the idea of the magical granting of special wishes. Equally, they have the imagination to accept the impossible, the ridiculous, and the downright silly with a good-humoured, innocent appreciation unbounded by the physical laws, political limitations or realities of the real world – a lesson that many adults would do well to relearn. Some things of course can never come true, no matter how hard we wish, but we can learn to accept them with a courage and forbearance that instils hope and respect in others. Often, children with a severe illness can be a shining example of this to those around them and we hope that these stories bring them enjoyment as well as an understanding that there are others out there learning to live with terminal illnesses as well. We also hope that you , as parents or carers, enjoy the puns, gentle jokes and general silliness herein along with the underlying thought that each of us, in our own way, CAN make wishes come true for others. All we need is the will to do so and, hopefully, the rest will fall into place.

Local Gambian Charities

The Challenge is intended to benefit Registered Charities in The Gambia where all the money in the Plymouth Banjul Challenge Fund goes from the car auctions. All of the work at The Gambia end (and it is a lot!!) is coordinated by ASSET and the National Olympic Committee (GNOC). Each of those organisations receives 20% of the money to go towards their development activities - and all of the administration costs come from that 20% too. They tend to be very low as most of the work is done voluntarily.

The other 60% is then available for charities that are registered in The Gambia and operate there. We try to avoid charities that have exposure overseas and concentrate on Gambian charities. So much money is raised by people in northern countries deciding what Gambians need and we have tried very hard to put the Gambians in the driving seat for a change.

Another part of the criteria is that charities should reflect the interests of ASSET and GNOC and be involved in youth and sports development or be small scale enterprises in tourism that benefit local communities. We do not enter into the areas of health and education because they are already supported by the major donors and we do not want to add to the duplication of effort on these fronts. Also the challenge supports these areas hugely with the equipment that comes down. We have a committee of wise and gifted Gambians who make the decisions, a dimension that we are very proud of.

Our reasoning for the criteria is that tourism is The Gambia's only industry and is largely organised in a way that gives little or no benefit to local people. Also, in a country where more than 50% of the population is under the age of 16 with very low job prospects sports takes on a whole different importance. It is where most of the youth will learn their leadership, discipline and team work. Both of these areas are very poorly supported by the formal development agencies.

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The Plymouth / Banjul Challenge 2006 is, very simply, a poor man's version of the Paris/Dakar Rally but with one or two 'minor' differences. The Challenge is to take a vehicle costing less than £100 from UK to Banjul in the Gambia over the Atlas Mountains and across the Sahara Desert in the hope of raising some money for charitable causes in both the UK and Africa. Rather than compete for glory and girls, we are doing it for adventure and charity and additional monies raised, outside of the vehicle auction, will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation UK (registered charity number 295672). Full details of the Challenge may be found at www.plymouth-banjul.co.uk.

Rules

1)	Competing cars must cost less than £100.
2)	Maximum budget for vehicle preparation must not exceed £15.
3)	Once the rally in underway there will be no form of formal assistance, all teams are on their own.
4)	All cars that make the journey and arrive in Banjul MUST be auctioned off by the Challenge Control Group to raise money for local Gambian charities.
5)	All vehicles must be left hand drive. IMPORTANT NOTE: Remember we will make nothing out of this … it all goes to local Gambian charities and the Make A Wish Foundation UK. We intend to make a television programme out of the adventure, we are already sponsored for post-production editing and we started filming when we went to meet Myfanwy and bring her home for a pre-Saharan Desert overhaul … so you should get your money's worth. Be generous, it all goes to good causes and we are fully prepared to prostitute ourselves and pimp Myfanwy to raise more money for the charities and if it will induce you to sponsor us further...just ask (assume the normal caveats on physical feasibility, legality, morality and whether our wives will find out).

To find out more about the appeal and to make a donation by credit or debit card, please visit:

www.justgiving.com/wheresdaddynow

All donations are secure and sent electronically to Make-A-Wish Foundation UK. If you are a UK taxpayer, Justgiving will add an automatic 28% bonus to your donation at no cost to you. Please help me support Make-A-Wish Foundation UK and a fabulous cause!

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We welcome all individual sponsors to support us with as much or as little as you can. Our aim is to secure at least £100 per mile through collective donation so: at 1 penny per mile the most you would be asked for (if we make it the whole way) would be £40. We intend that you will be able to check our progress daily on the map above.

Chase Signs Domino's Pizza DSH Educating Daddy Hermes Resourcing

Suddaby's Crown Hotel, Malton MPK The Launch Pad Visqueen Building Products Whitwell Motorsport

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The Official Plymouth-Banjul Web Site

Dublin-Banjul Team Web Site

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