JUSTGIVING
We were raising money for New Start, a charity funding the heart and lung transplantation programme at Wythenshawe Hospital, one of only five centres
in the UK, performing these life-saving procedures.
The reason was personal: our friend Ellis had cystic fibrosis, received his transplant there, and got something priceless in return - more life.
Our gimmick was to suggest people sponsor us 1p a mile. It sounds ridiculously small, but those pennies have a sneaky habit of adding up.
To make life easy, and to give people absolutely no excuse not to donate,
we broke the journey down into stages, with suggested donation amounts
for each leg.
The Rally:
Namur > Freiburg > Menaggio > Monaco > Nice = 750 miles
This part carves a path through Belgium, across Germany, down through the Alps, along the shores of Lake Como, and into the absurdity of Monaco,
roughly 750 miles of increasingly spectacular scenery that we'll mostly be too stressed to appreciate.
The price of sponsoring this heroic, border-hopping, gear-crunching part of
the trip was just £7.50. Less than a gelato in Menaggio.
The Outbound:
Liverpool > Namur > Freiburg > Menaggio > Monaco > Nice = 1200 miles
By the time we rolled into Monaco, we had survived the British motorway system, crossed the English Channel, navigated Belgium, cut through Germany, traversed the Alps, and cruised past Lake Como, having somehow convinced ourselves this 1,200-mile drive was a good idea.
It would cost just £12 to sponsor this part of the trip, about the price of
a decent Full English, or less than an hour's parking in Monaco.
The Full Pull:
Liverpool > Namur > Freiburg > Menaggio > Monaco > Nice > Séte > San Sebastian > Bilbao > Portsmouth > Liverpool = 2200 miles
We were driving roughly 2,200 miles down motorways, across mountain passes, and through medieval city streets in England, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Spain.
All we asked was just £22 to sponsor this part of the trip. For the price of a round of drinks bought on Saturday that you'll have forgotten by Sunday, you could know you've done your bit for an absolutely brilliant cause.
Any Donation:
Every single contribution was warmly welcomed and very much appreciated.
Whether it's a few pennies or a few hundred pounds, it all added up.
Every donation goes directly towards making a real, life-changing difference.
No amount was too small to matter, and no level of generosity went unnoticed.
Thank You!
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for any and all donations.
It meant the absolute world to us.
Team Ellis: Robbie, Lisa, Richie, Rachel, Carl & Matt.