Emergency sprint from Mere to Mongolia

By mmanning

AN AMBULANCE team with a difference is preparing for an emergency dash across thousands of miles of gruelling terrain.

Hannah Scott from Mere and her friends Caroline Fawcett and Christophe Lucas are planning to complete the Mongol Rally – one of the world's toughest driving challenges – in a Mercedes Sprinter donated by South Western Ambulance Service.

To make the drive to Mongolia as challenging as possible, organisers don't usually allow vehicles with an engine size of more than one litre but they've made an exception for Hannah's team because they're delivering the retired ambulance to a Mongolian hospital – if they can get it there in one piece.

Even with a 2.9 litre engine, it won't be easy. The long, dangerous slog will cross mountain ranges and deserts, passing through bandit country and skirting around war zones, and roads are expected to range from not very good to non-existent.

Surprisingly, considering all the challenges she's likely to encounter, web designer Hannah is most worried about creepy-crawlies.

"Spiders scare me a lot more than bandits," she said.

The team have named themselves Driving Dotty, for reasons which will be explained later. They plan to follow a route across Europe to Turkey (this first leg should be pretty straightforward) and then through Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Russia to reach their destination in Mongolia.

There's absolutely no backup on any stage of the challenge, and the Driving Dotty team admits to having one or two skills gaps when it comes to mechanics. The group of housemates recently broke down in a hire car while driving through a baboon infested national park in South Africa. They couldn't fix the vehicle and ended up hitching a lift with a coach full of tourists.

Answering the obvious question of why they would want to put themselves through the rigours of the Mongol Rally, Hannah said: "None of us have ever done anything like this before but it will be a great opportunity to get out of the office and do something completely different – and to get away from our health and safety obsessed world."

Team Driving Dotty have completed a basic course in mechanics since the South African incident, and they can now replace a tyre and do an oil change, but they are looking for a local mechanic to give them some help before they leave. The ambulance, Dotty, needs a sump guard (for protection on rocky tracks) shields for brake fluid lines, dust filters, a bench seat and some sturdy tyres (plus a few spares) before she sets off.

The trip is being undertaken to raise money for several very good causes and, if anyone else can help, the wish list for Driving Dotty also includes food ration packs, camping equipment, petrol cans, a GPS setup and just about anything else that generous readers may think appropriate.

The team have to raise £1,000 to take part in the trip, and they want to raise as much money as they can for Dorothy House Hospice Care, Operation Smile and Christina Noble Children's Foundation. They have been doing all sorts if fundraising, including quiz nights and begging on the London underground, and have already drummed-up thousands of pounds.

The friends have also had the ingenious idea of selling advertising dots (hence the name) of all sizes. Give Driving Dotty £100 or more for their chosen good causes and you can advertise your business on the side of Dotty – and, in these times of economic uncertainty, you'd be a fool to miss out on the Mongolian slice of the market. Apart from South Western Ambulance Service, supporters already include main sponsors John Lewis, and Alpha Signs in Yeovil, who are making the dots.

"We're hoping for an amazing experience but the generosity of people has been the real highlight so far," Hannah concluded.

To find out more about Driving Dotty, and how you can help, visit www.drivingdotty.com

The charities

Dorothy House Hospice Care helps about 800 families affected by cancer, motor neurone disease and other life threatening conditions. It is the only charity providing free specialist nursing care at home in Bath, north and west Wiltshire and north east Somerset. Most patients are looked after in their own homes, but short-term care, out-patient and day patient services are provided at the hospice in Winsley, near Bath.

The hospice receives only 40 per cent of its funding from the NHS. This year, after NHS funding, £2.5 million is needed to provide services at the current level – that's more than £7,000 a day.

Operation Smile is a worldwide charity dedicated to helping improve the lives of children born with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities.

Founded by Dr William P Magee Jr, a plastic surgeon, and his wife, Kathleen, a nurse and clinical social worker, Operation Smile operates in 51 countries. Since 1982, more than 120,000 children have been treated by thousands of volunteers in Central and South America, Africa, Middle East, Eastern Europe and Asia and thousands of healthcare professionals have been trained globally.

Christina Noble Children's Foundation is an international partnership dedicated to serving children in need of emergency and long-term medical care, nutritional rehabilitation, educational opportunities, vocational training, job placement and the protection of children at risk of economic and sexual exploitation. The money we raised from Driving Dotty will go to the Blue Skies Ger Village in Ulaanbaatar; a project that provides a home for orphaned children and offers a life line of hope in otherwise tragic circumstances.

Report and picture by Mathew Manning

mmanning@bvmedia.co.uk