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Update March 2010
This will cost you nothing but a couple of minutes of your time, but give our team the chance to compete in a fantastic challenge. Hazel’s Dramtastic 4 are taking part in The 2010 Drambuie Pursuit http://www.drambuie.co.uk/teams and need your help. All you have to do is go to the website, click on Hazel’s Dramtastic 4 in the list of teams and hit the Vote for Me button in the top right corner. The 5 teams with the most votes by 30th March will get the chance to go on and compete in the 2010 Challenge. Do it Now, PLEASE.
The big news for Hazel’s Footprints is some wonderful fundraising ideas which are being planned, are works in progress and have been completed against all odds.
Starting with the last we have Ben, Pete and Steve’s epic journey in a VW Beetle in the Africa Rally in December from London to the Cameroons. Against all odds (and advice from the Foreign Office) they managed to be first over the finishing line and raise over £2,000 for HFT. You can read the whole intrepid mission on http://www.camervroom.posterous.com/ to realize what a truly magnificent achievement it was just to get Lennon (the Beetle, see) to the end by fair means or with Godly intervention. Well done boys and now with that and the Mongol Rally under your belts maybe you will settle for easier and safer fundraising ideas in the future.
We also had a runner in the Great North Run in September. Timur Tatlioglu ran for HFT and raised a very useful £400 for the cause. Thanks for that Timur!
Bea Good also took part in the Sony Ericsson Run to the Beat London’s Music Half Marathon in September with Matty and Mark and raised £850 for HFT. It sounds like a fun day out and a good alternative to those who can’t get a place in the London Marathon (ps, and its half the distance!!). Well done guys.
The work in progress is George Matt’s epic cycle ride from London to Cape Town. He started from England in August 2009 and after crossing Europe he headed down Africa via Egypt, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Malawi. You can read his excellent blog on http://cycletocapetown.weebly.com/index.html which is highly amusing and readable as he heads full steam on the last few 1,000kms to journey’s end in South Africa. He really deserves a donation on http://www.justgiving.co.uk/Cycle-to-Cape-Town/
In the pipeline we have 2 runners in the London Marathon on 25th April. Ian Sutherland https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/IanSutherland is running it under the official HFT entry and Jenny Craik (she of “shoot me if I ever think of doing another Marathon”) has also managed to get a place in the annual epic so keep your eyes open for them so you can cheer them on from the side of the road or (more likely) from the comfort of you TV set. Either way they deserve a pledge on their fund raising pages. Hope the training is going well!!!
And finally…. we are off on a HFT expedition again to commemorate 5 years since we climbed Kilimanjaro with a 2 week trek in Nepal to raise £20,000 for a young Nepalese who has a dream of building a school and hostel for his home village away up in the remote valleys of the Mansula region. We have 14 committed trekkers at the moment, both young and old, but have room to for another one or two onto the expedition if you are interested. Just get in touch with us on 01896849677 for further details – we’d love to have you along!
Update 23rd August
THE big event this summer has been the HFT London Ceilidh held in the Hurlingham club on the 1st of August. Not only was it a tremendous evening of meeting “old friends” amongst the young, but it was a fantastic venue with masses of room to reel the night away.
Lucy and her team, who deserve a huge thanks for all the time and effort they put into making the evening go so smoothly, purposefully kept the tickets as low in price as possible to attract 300 people to the event and then had a glittering array of prizes to auction and raffle which enabled them to raise over £18,500 – yes £18,500 from the evening. We are deeply indebted to all those individuals and companies who kindly donated items for the evening – you made it such a successful fundraiser. Well done.
To follow are a few pics to give you a flavour of what you missed so that you sign up for the 2010 event.
The Hurlingham Venue
Drinks Reception
Welcome from Lucy and Peter
Elly and Tom from Loretto Days
Joan, Rachel,,and Grace
John Widdowson and Pals
Morte and Friend
The Infamous Grouse Band
Reeling the Night Away
All Too Much for Some!
They’re off again!! Not content with literally dragging 3 Minis to Mongolia a couple of years ago, Ben and Pete have taken two entries in the Africa Rally, which takes place in December from London to Cameroon a distance of 7,000 miles through some pretty inhospitable territory. And they hope to be able to raise for Hazel’s Footprints on the adventure. I can see Boris is going to busy again which is good as he was just saying the other day how bored he was getting!
A friend of David (Morte) Mortimer is taking part in the Great North Run at Gateshead in September and is running for HFT. Good luck Timur and you can support him by going to:-
Late News…..
It has come to our attention that George Matts is about to embark on a fantastic cycle trip and will raise funds for Hazel’s Footprints as he bikes from Northamptonshire to Cape Town, yes Cape Town!!!! Visit his Justgiving page to help him with this huge challenge
http:/www.justgiving.com/Cycle-to-Cape-Town
And you can visit his website so you can keep up to date with his movements at:
In George’s own words The plan is to cycle from Northamptonshire to Cape Town across the Europe to Greece hitching across the Mediterranean and down the East Coast of Africa. I'm setting off on my tod so if you happen to be in the Sudan around Christmas do look me up...! This really will be an incredible challenge and one that I have had in the back of my mind for years. I'm not promising to pedal the whole way - or even get to Cape Town at all (a short stint in a Mauritanian jail and an impounded Toyota Hilux halted my 2006 trip). There are parts of my route that are just not feasible to cycle but I should be good for cracking on 15,000 + km. Having decided to go on this incredibly selfish journey I need to claim a good reason for going on it good reasons don't come much better than this is one. I know its a tough time at the moment but I'm or rather http://www.archiveattic.co.uk/ (quick plug - please recommend it to your friends) are picking up the tab for all the costs so the money you give will be going to much more worthwhile causes than my bar tab so please dig deep. http://www.archiveattic.co.uk/ I leave the second week of September so if I don't see you beforehand take care and thanks for the donation. George This email came in from Ben Newman a while back:- "I'm not a very superstitious person, but yesterday I went to take some cash out from a cashpoint outside work. Low and behold there was £50 sticking out of the cashpoint, beeping away. There must have been 3 or 4 people stood within sight / earshot of the cash, crying out to be had. I asked everyone stood around at the bus station nearby whether it was theirs, whether they'd forgotten it. I literally couldn't give it away as no one would take it (very odd in London, normally they'd snatch your hand off!). So it's on its way to the Trust, as it seems the onlything to do given the day it occured on (30th March – Hazel’s birthday)!" Nice touch Ben and thanks. Last week we received the following letter completely out of the blue from Harriet Wood who is at Hazel’s old school, Loretto. “I am a member of the sixth form from What a lovely surprise and well done to the sixth form to have raised over £1,000 from their enterprise; Hazel would be proud of you! Margo Cochrane sent a donation of £100 from two families who wanted a piece of land near Musselburgh to grow vegetables on. Well done Margo – you see the credit crunch does have some good points to it! When Guy and Philly Lee’s daughter Emma got married earlier this month our Trustee David Watt took his Bentley along with Toby Vint in his Rolls Royce out of their winter mothballs to act as the wedding cars and asked for an HFT donation instead of any payment, so thank you all for the £100. May we wish Emma and her new husband Charlie all the best for a long and happy marriage. Rachael Ormrod, who has recently been out on a very successful trip to Otjikondo volunteering for six weeks, decided to give us a donation of £112 at Christmas time in lieu of sending cards and even better a Mrs Lancely was so impressed with Rachael’s idea that she sent one for £200!!! Thank you both very much. And while on the Christmas theme, our near neighbours Hugh and Marion Shaw donated £100 instead of sending people a present. Don’t know how well that went down with friends and relations but we at HFT are most appreciative! Nan and Paddy Robertson, Alan and Caroline Crews, Dorothy and Hartley Noble and Tony and Sue Moore all very kindly sent donations at Christmas time and Isobel Jackson who has been a great supporter over several years since she read Hazel’s book “A Gap in the Life” donated £400 and dropped in to see us in the Autumn which was really nice to put a face to a name. The Bron, Coll (Hazel’s Ben Newman came up to see us in December and got roped in again to go beating at West Morrison with Joan and so gave their £60 beating money to HFT. Greenlawdean shoot had a fine system for shooting hens on their end of season Cocks Day which raised £55 for the Trust. And Mike Thomson, who bought the day we donated to the auction at last year’s Cielidh, very kindly donated the keepers tip collection at the end of the day of £185 to Hazel’s Footprints Trust. And finally still on the shooting theme Edward Martin Sealpin Kennels wouldn’t take anything for a recent training session of a certain Kondo, Cocker Spaniel belonging to a certain Mrs Scott Aiton and asked instead for a donation of £50 to HFT. Sue and Sean Danagher gave £110 for stabling their horses at Legerwood whilst on their way down South with their daughter Merial to compete at the National Pony Club Championships. Thanks to you all for your great kindness. It never ceases to amaze us how generous folk are and how it keeps rolling in which is needed more than ever with the way investments are performing! Jill Elliot, who was a friend of Hazel’s at Durham, has raised over £2,300 from a walk (well actually a 24 hour hike of over 50 miles!!!!) she and three others participated in in the Peak District and has very kindly sent in the following report all about it. 56 miles in 24 hours! No sweat! Or so we thought one night in the pub after a few (possibly too many) drinks! And so commenced our ‘Bullock Smithy’ adventure…. A friend of ours is an assistant Scout leader with the 3rd Hazel Grove Scout Group. One of their annual events is the Bullock Smithy Hike (a 56 mile hike around the Peak District). Now in its 32nd year, we decided if teenage Scouts can complete the Hike then we could too. These were words I think each of our group of four who embarked on the Hike regretted at least once during the months of training that followed! The morning of the walk began grey and dreary but at least it was dry. The rain of August had finally ceased and we were hoping it would remain dry for the next 24 hours. Our bags had been carefully (and hopefully) packed with sun cream and sunglasses but these items were soon discarded on the morning of the walk. Due to the weather they were clearly not necessary and all extra weight needed to be removed from our bags. This was a decision we began to regret as we arrived at the starting point of the Hike to be greeted by glorious sunshine. The sun continued to shine as Ruth, Lu, Muriel and I set off with 250 other competitors. The first leg of the Hike took us out towards Lyme Park, and for any Pride & Prejudice fans out there, we kept our eyes open for a glimpse of Mr Darcy (a.k.a. Colin Firth) but unfortunately he was not around to cheer us on. We reached the first of fourteen checkpoints in good spirits. The sun continued to shine and we had not encountered too many hills. As the day progressed the journey became difficult for one of our group. At checkpoint 4 in Edale Ruth decided after a valiant effort to retire. Following Ruth’s departure, Lu, Muriel and I pushed on. The steepest climb we had yet faced in the Hike was our next challenge before dusk. We pushed on and reached the summit slightly (!) out of breath and were rewarded with beautiful views of Castleton as the sun set. Having reached checkpoint 5 we were revived by jam sandwiches and juice but we still managed to take a wrong turn (we knew we should have paid more attention at Duke of Edinburgh and Guides!). However, we were soon back on track and heading in the right direction. As darkness descended and the first rain of the Hike came down, our fear set in. Navigating in the dark was a whole new challenge. It was not something we had experienced before nor prepared for in training. Somehow those map reading skills that had eluded us earlier returned and we managed to navigate our way through a series of fields and down a few tracks towards (we hoped) the next checkpoint at Peak Forest. All of sudden red flashing lights appeared out of the darkness. What could they be? Thankfully they were from Muriel's boyfriend's camera who had come along to cheer us on. We had gone the right way! He was one of the most welcome sights we could have seen (well, the finish line would have been pretty good too!). Following another refuelling stop at Peak Forest we were much revived and set off through fields and over styles with a spring in our step. A muddy bridle way or two, a few comedy falls in the mud and we were at the next checkpoint. This was the lowest point for me; I was muddy, feeling sick and generally tired, but knew I had to keep going. At Millers Dale we joined another group of four for safety and set out as a seven for the next leg of the Hike. A rumour had been spreading about the next checkpoint at Chelmorton, apparently they had donuts and coffee! The thought of donuts spurred us on. This leg of the Hike saw a break in the rain however it returned with a vengeance as we left Chelmorton. Thankfully our waterproofs held out and we made it to Earl Sterndale dry, well, apart from a few soggy feet. Many of the ‘footpaths’ we encountered during the Hike would have been better described as streams following weeks of incessant rain. No amount of waterproofing our shoes could have kept the water out! We took a slight detour (honest) as we headed on and eventually made it to the next checkpoint after being charged by a group of horses (possibly the most scary thing we have ever experienced in the dark). As we left Brand Top dawn was breaking, a welcome sight because we knew that navigating would become easier (or so we thought). It also meant the finish line was drawing closer. Dawn broke but navigating did not become any easier, thick fog had set in. Somehow we managed to find our way (thankfully we had walked this section of the Hike as part of our training). At this point Lu, Muriel and I decided to increase our pace and set out again as a group of three. After another detour we were soon back on course. At checkpoint 12, Walker Barn, we were told that it was unlikely we would finish in Hike before the noon deadline. It would be close but not completing the Hike was something we refused to accept having come so far. Our group became four again as Nick, one of the guys we had walked with overnight, joined us. I don’t know where we found the energy after walking 46 miles but we began to run (well, lets be honest, jog) to try and reach the finish line by noon. As we ran along the Macclesfield Canal, we must have been a great spectacle. People passing us on Canal barges cheered us on, we had to finish! Whitely Green was the penultimate checkpoint. As we left the checkpoint we had five miles to complete in an hour and a half. Under normal circumstances, following our months of training, this would have been ok, but after 22 hours of walking, could we make it? My feet really started to hurt but we had to keep going. We set out running along the Middlewood Way. Tiredness and confusion set in towards the end, had we gone the right way? We kept going and hoped we had. Eventually we saw the housing estate we had walked through almost 24 hours earlier, such a welcome sight! We dug deep and sprinted (don’t ask me how) towards the Scout hut and the final checkpoint to be greeted by cheers. We were the final participants to complete the Hike before the 24 hour time period lapsed. Our feet were sore and we shed a few tears through exhaustion and delight but we had made it! I don’t think any of us will be participating in the Hike any time soon (well, other than to help on a checkpoint), but the sense of achievement was immense. It’s a challenge everyone should undertake at least once! Raising £2,321 for a fantastic cause has made all of the fundraising and training worthwhile. Thanks to everyone who sponsored and supported us in our training for the Hike and to the volunteers from 3rd Hazel Grove Scout Group who organise the annual Bullock Smithy Hike. London Marathon 2007. (At last - ED!!) No one said it would be easy. What they didn’t say was how hard it would be either! 22nd April 2007. Judgement day. Five Hazel Footprinters- with varying levels of training under their belts!- line up on the various start lines across London. And without forgetting the ape among the pack- no, not Ben- but Boris the stuffed cuddly toy mascot monkey. A long standing supporter of the trust and brains behind the operation. The 26.2 mile course for The Flora London Marathon 2007 ahead of them. Scorching arid heat belting down on their finely tuned athletic frames (a note from the editors: this has in no way been fabricated or embellished). This was to be a day of reckoning. Soundtrack of Rocky playing on their ipods. The one legged chicken eyeing up his competition to his left- and Cyberman checking out the competition on his right! The sound of the shotgun, hot air balloons start to take to the skies and Indiana Jones begins to pull his boulder (no innuendo intended!) through the streets of London. The roads littered with screaming adoring fans. Milestone one... the one mile mark. Relief and fatigue sets in- never having to run that stretch again! Georgie’s ipod freezes. Morale plummets- contemplating suicide. Ben starts hallucinating that Boris- attached to Ben’s backside- has lost his head. Next the Cutty Sark and Greenwich. Mile 7. Things going well, good pace alongside Spongebob Squarepants- tan coming along nicely. Towerbridge mile 13. Georgie tries to run in between Colin Jackson and his interviewee in a desperate bid to make the 6 o’clock news! Ben hits the wall. Agony and desperation ensues. To the very nice old man who generously donated his lunch to a bedraggled, sweaty, downtrodden marathon machine that is Ben- thank you. You saved his marathon. To the Docklands- mile 17. Passes in a blur- not of speed, more from deliriousness. Still no support team that we have been able to spot from the millions of faces lining the streets. Georgie’s ipod starts to work again. Mile 22- the ‘nearly there’ stretch. A mild rise of satisfaction gloating looking back at the fatties still on mile 13! Suddenly acutely aware of specimen status. Mile 25- familiar faces come into view. We are very grateful to all supporters who managed to get out of their pits and come see us cross the line a mere 7 hours after we had left our beds. Mile 26- smile for the ****ing cameras! Try not to look exhausted. Too:quick- Elliot thrashing the rest of the Footprinters- we maintain he cheated and knew a shortcut 4:28 – Ben- after wrestling with ‘the wall’ for a cool 13 miles arrives exhausted but happy to have pipped Boris at the finish line 4:28: 01- Boris fuming having narrowly lost out to Ben and kicks billboards in disgust. 4:45- Jamie happy to have beaten the Granny who had been ‘following him’ for the last 4 miles. 5:02- Georgie arrives having sprinted up the final 200metres past the one legged man who had beaten her in Edinburgh- so ha! In total- £3277.28 raised by Footprinters. Worth it?! (ED:- OF COURSE!!!! [from the safety of his cosy office chair!!!] ). The Everest Base Camp Treck. This is to say a huge thank you to all those who sponsored myself and Andy’s trip to Everest. As this email suggests we have made it home safe and sound, all limbs, toes and fingers in tact, and thanks to all of you not only did I have an experience that will stay with me and given me memories I will simply never forget, but you have helped raise a large amount of money that I know Hazel’s Footprints will use to great benefit. This trip was without doubt the best, and in a way the hardest thing I have ever done. Physically draining at times, absolutely freezing and, I know Andy will back me up on this one, completely and utterly inspiring. The scenery was simply unbelievable. The people we meet were amazing, all challenging themselves for charity. It was hard, and emotional at times, but Andy and I got there with the help of some amazing sherpa’s, the odd Yak and the god send that are Johnson’s baby wipes! I have a feeling this will not be the end of my ventures to obscure places in the world, but I know this experience will be impossible to beat. Thank you all for your help, your generosity and giving me the motivation needed to get to Base Camp, to climb Kala Patar and to get home safely (with the help of the aptly named ‘Yeti Airlines’!) I have attached two photos, one of Boris with Everest behind him (Hazels Footprints mascot) and one of Andy and I at Base Camp, but as you can imagine have many more. Please let me know if you want one sent to you. Thank you all again, it was mind blowing and unforgettable. East Lothian Charity Football Match. The "Allstars" under the captaincy of David Shaw-Stewart met up on Gifford's village pitch on a frosty Sunday in December to do battle against the "Gin Slingers" presided over by Leonard Harper-Gow in the annual clash of the titans. In what turned out to be a match of surprisingly high standard the superior experience of the Allstars shone through to ease them to a 8-2 victory but not without some valiant defence from the Ginslingers under the viciferous direction of their captain and in particular the goalie who defied any hint of age by diving around his goal mouth like a man possessed. The annual match is a game of youth (sons....or daughters!!!) and experience (dads) with one or other being on the pitch at any one time. The varying tactics are interesting to watch as some such as the Harpers prefer to play a full half each whilst others such as the Leggates go for a quick ten minute burst each alternatively. Either way the Dads look knackered by the end and the boys have hardly broken sweat!!! Afterwards we all repaired to the Goblin Ha' Pub in Gifford for a well earned drink and light lunch before the prize giving as Leonard sportingly handed over the annual trophy to David and his team whilst promising to take revenge next year as his young growing team flourishes and gains experience during the year. Well done guys, again a hugr thank you for choosing HFT again this year as your nominated charity. Dave’s Mongol Rally Review We hoped to be able to keep everyone up to date during out journey however, it seems our problems were not restricted to the road and there were all sorts of hitches updating the website remotely. Now back in the UK with access to more reliable technology we’d love to take a little time to fill you all in on what we got up to. There is no doubt the rally began long before our departure from Hyde Park with Jacky clocking up almost a thousand miles zigzagging across the country as we prepared her for her voyage. On top of Jacky’s modest moderations we worked feverishly sorting visas, collecting bits and pieces together and with Chris’s expertise preparing the website. By the time the 22nd came along we were both pretty shattered, not aided by a later than planned farewell drink the night before. From here our journey can be broken up into 4 roughly distinguishable sections. London to Astrakhan (just shy of the Kazak border) The journey began with what proved to be our longest non-stop drive as we drove the 800 mile stretch to make the party the following evening in Prague. While Jacky tested our mechanical knowledge early on with us failing to suss out the Fiat’s jack in order to replace our first flat tyre, she went beautifully throughout the night and we made the Czech Republic the following day. We soon found ourselves behind two more Pandas as we tried to negotiate Prague’s insane one-way systems and tunnels playing chicken with trams and rapidly discovering driving foreign cities on no sleep is tantamount to suicidal. A fine evening in the Czech capitol ensued with almost all of the teams making it in time for a much needed pint of the countries famous ale and some fine music from Czech’s foremost salsa band. After some welcome hours sleep on what proved to be our most valuable possession – two blue sun loungers belonging to Chris’ mum – we got going and decided to head for Poland. A series of shattering days and nights followed as we went from one beautiful city to another meeting up with both ralliers and locals and each morning regretting a little more driving slap bang into vodka country. Our nights out in Krakow, Kiev and Volgograd were buffered only by endless hours of driving, uncomfortable nights in lay-bys and the discovery of the joy of border crossings. These cities should really be given much more space as they each surprised us both with their grandeur, friendliness and the phenomenal beauty of their women. At one stage in a club in Volgograd we discovered why the evening was called “Fruit Night” as we noticed strings of bananas hanging from the ceiling and Chris found himself eating grapes off a naked women covered in cream (that’s the women covered in cream, not Chris). I should reiterate the days of driving going on here as we were passing though some truly astounding scenery on roads in hindsight we should have appreciated far more. There was a stark contrast to be seen by crossing so rapidly from west to east in all that was passing us by. With the horse the clear centre of Ukrainian farming the countless laden carts brought to life an image I had had of the vast country with its fields of maize and sunflowers which stretch into the horizon. We were heading towards Kazakhstan at a fantastic pace, well max was around 60mph but this was made up for by the hours being put in. Few of our border crossings were straight forward but the first had to be the most nerve wracking. After waiting in the wrong queue for half an hour the car in front was kind enough to point us towards the correct one which to our delight was empty. I then promptly drove straight through a cunningly disguised check point, reversed back and began the lengthy process of getting ourselves and our car into the Ukraine. It was actually all going fairly well until the ever conscientious passport checker noticed a water smudge on a key page of Chris’ passport and declared it a fake. We then sat as it was passed from one guard to another in a spiral of ever increasing hat size until an hour later Chris was marched off to the interrogation room. He found himself in front of the Big Cheese with three burly guards with guns standing behind him. I was left with no idea where he had been taken to until he tipped up with a more friendly English speaking guard saying “that all got a little James Bond in there” and having to collect various other bits of ID to placate the boss. Ninety minutes later we were on our way relieved to have our first crossing behind us and praying every other country doesn’t have passport checkers of such commendable diligence. After camping not far over the Ukraine border we were on the road early the following day. Not one hour had passed when we found ourselves naively driving straight through our second checkpoint. Unaware anything was wrong we rapidly realised the policeman wasn’t simply waving when flashing lights and blaring siren interrupted our progress. Back at the checkpoint the cop was none too happy and demanded $100 for our error to which we claimed we simply didn’t understand and after some very serious faces and phone calls on their part and some very bemused faces on ours the second cop took pity on us and waved us on our way. It was only later that we were informed the police are allowed to open fire on anyone not stopping on demand. “Roz stops” became one of the favourite parts of our journey due to the bonkers conversations and insane demands they would come out with. One team was even fined $60 after an emissions test which if you’d seen the Ladas we followed, burning up the cheapest fuel imaginable, is laughable. With nine countries, eight days of driving, four very heavy nights out, countless police stops, zero fines paid, one puncture and all the above and more behind us we reached Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan Just prior to leaving Russia we stopped at a lake and met an English speaking Polish chap who was driving to the south of Kazakhstan. He was kind enough to inform us that no one enters the country from this point as the roads are very bad and we should really have entered from the north. It was with some trepidation that we then drove to the border though we ultimately relished the thought of beginning the more testing part of the journey. One of our first sights upon entering Kazakhstan after the lengthy crossing we’d come to expect was a BMW Z3, needless to say this raised our hopes about getting through the country in one piece. It was rapidly fairly evident that that car never drove more than in Russia and along the hundred mile stretch between Atyrau and the border. After our first night in Kazakhstan we embarked on what I have no doubt is the most abominable stretch of road in the world, I could write pages and you still wouldn’t quite understand how bad they are. The first fifty miles was a patchwork of perfect new asphalt going into dirt track and back into asphalt in ten mile stretches, after one of the small towns along the way we realised we were not going to see good roads for a very long time. On the other side of this town there were about twenty tracks that stretched off in different directions, choosing one of the more major ones we found ourselves at a vast Kazoil distillery and were directed back thirty minutes the way we’d come. From then on our only point of reference was the railway which helpfully seemed to be going everywhere we were. When we did eventually meet back up with the road we found no one used it any more and simply made their own tracks along side. These were fantastic fun and we enjoyed many miles rolling up and down the banks avoiding bumps which appeared out of nowhere and occasionally popping up to check out the road or cross a bridge only to head back to the tracks. Upon reaching Aktobe we then headed south directed the long way round with the promise of good roads which degenerated within a matter of miles. It was on this drive south that Jacky who had been astounding us with the way she’d been dealing with our appalling treatment of her starting getting worryingly warm and we found our radiator mysteriously emptying itself of coolant. Unable to go on we donned our high-viz vests and before too long a fellow rallier appeared, (the first seen for 5 days), and offered to tow us to the next town of Aral’sk 60km away. This rather grim place was in the middle of a sandstorm but we tracked down a garage who offered to sort us out confirming it was the head gasket which had blown and delighted to see we’d brought one along. I was packed off to buy the necessary oil, coolant and gasket maker with a rather nasty fellow not unfairly liken to Jabba the Hut and we were both very relieved that our rally may not be over after all. An extraordinary night ensued beginning with a delightful tea with Kazakhstan’s national food of “Ball Sacs”, (rather tasty donut like things), and the excellent tea replenishment abilities of our hosts wife. The mechanics then demanded beer and got to work while we were ushered through to another room and invited to sleep though not before a wash was forced upon us. On the face of it you might think this was a rather fantastic set-up however now with a taste for beer we were woken every two hours by the mechanics and more was demanded. Shortly after being woken for our second meal I started to feel rather ill and dashed out of bed conscious that in any country it has to be bad form to throw up in your host’s home. More bad news was to come as when they finally got to the old gasket it slowly dawned on me that it looked nothing like our spare. It transpired that the Polish Fiat Dealer we’d purchased our gasket from had supplied the one for the older engine and not the FIRE ours was fitted with. More discussion commenced and it was agreed that for $200 they would fix the old gasket and get Jacky on the road. By 6am our by now drunken but loyal mechanics had Jacky running and having paid up we were all ready to get on the road when one of our hosts sons decided to demand $20 from Chris as he had tripped over the old oil and got it all over his trousers. When Chris said no a knife dramatically appeared and luckily people pounced on the fellow though not before Chris hurriedly handed over the mans recompense. From here we headed south with the roads finally improving south of Kyzylorda and onwards to Kyrgyzstan. Another dubious choice for a border crossing this had to be the most corrupt place we’d found but we got through though with no stamp on the visa and one stolen MP3 player. Kyrgyzstan turned out to be truly astounding with over 80% of the country being mountainous; although we spent little over 24 hours there it was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited. The roads were even fairly good and we made good time even with Jacky struggling on the sections over 4000 metres and going little over 20 on the up. Our only minor dispute ensued with me wanting to go to Bishkek and Chris feeling it rather unnecessary – we went and it really wasn’t up to much. Heading out of Kyrgyzstan we went through at a fantastic pace this could have been because when Chris was asked if we were diplomats he replied “…well sort of”. We went from here to Almaty, Kazakhstan’s old capital and had a gentle night there too shattered to really explore. Heading to Russia we made fantastic time as at last we found a semi decent Kazak road making the boarder in just over two days. This was not before we had the pleasure of being waved over by some crazy Kazaks and invited to try irani – the national drink of fermented cow’s milk. We were in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan for a mighty 11 days each taking their toll on poor Jacky. In total we visited three mechanics – replaced rear shocks and added Audi springs (raising Jacky a further 4 inches), re-replaced shock after hitting massive rock in road, had three punctures, lost exhaust countless times finally reattached by mechanic after our efforts failed, reattached handbrake cable and had massive engine re-build sorting head gasket. The old girl was never the same again. Back in Russia up to Mongol Border. Back in Russia we had strong hopes of making up lost time pushing all the way up to Novosibirsk on our first day back arriving late at night and sniffing out the centre with accomplished aplomb. Having previously enjoyed our nights out in Russia and aware that this could be our last we threw ourselves into the evening even though we soon discovered we’d passed through yet another time zone and it was in fact 11.30pm. Alex was our host initially taking us on a drive round the city in search of a bar and ending up 30 seconds from where we’d parked. He was kind enough to order us 200ml of vodka and a couple of beers as well as a plate of meat, red bull and cigarettes for himself, these beverages down us he invited us to pick up the tab and we got on our way. Back in the car park attendants booth we were offered more beer, (on Alex this time) and decided to try out a local club. We were greeted be a very friendly bouncer who cheerily announced for one night only the club was hosting male strippers on the face of it not a great thing but it did mean the place was teeming with women. It seems both of us over did things a little as we were both woken by bouncers where Chris promptly threw up and we were asked to leave as everyone else had some time earlier. It seems I’d fallen asleep before Chris who’d continued to be plied with drinks and upon waking in the morning was entirely incapacitated – a wreck. We finally got on the road after a long search for my camera which we concluded had been stolen by friendly Alex as he’d been around all evening near the car and the driver’s door no longer locked. For the next three days we drove all the hours of daylight we could on roads that would go from perfect to muddy pot-holed tracks with no warning often in the pouring rain. We eventually reached the stunning Lake Baikal and the next day with great excitement we were able to push on to the Mongolian border. Aside from the loss of a camera our only other problem in this stage was the loss of any ability to stop partially rectified by a mechanic who shut off the brake cable running to the off rear wheel. We then visited a further 5 mechanics none of which seemed to understand that the brakes only responding in the last centimetre of peddle compression was a problem and with no Russian expression for “bleed the brakes” we carried on regardless. Mongolia Imagine our disappointment on arrival at our final border crossing only to be told they closed 3 minutes ago. At the front of the queue we had another evening of lengthy explanations about what we were up to and perhaps left people more confused than before we’d started. Some fine bolognaise with noodles sitting in our bellies we had a fine nights sleep in Jacky and woke to gates opening and after a fairly painless crossing at last we were in Mongolia after a gruelling 24 days and 7500 miles of driving. We decided to celebrate with a little Mongolian breakfast of beef noodle soup following which the lady decided we had ordered beef steak as well. None of these dished were good and the Mongol tea we were given was still less so. Feeling somewhat unsatisfied we hit the road again something that seemed so natural now – to do whatever you had to do and get straight back in the car. We had decided we would drive all the way to Ulaan Bataar that day as we’d been told it was only 250 miles on good roads. With only a couple of stops, the first to chat to some policemen at a checkpoint where we were delighted to be given the chance to model their police baton and official looking cap and the second to carry out a bit of a photo shoot with our Jacky. We had discovered a letter in our paperwork written in Mongolian which, when handed to anyone official resulted in a prompt salute and a wave on our way so any other stop took a matter on minutes. The photo shoot took place up a long track which ended up too steep for the much diminished Jacky to handle however we were able to get some great shots in the magnificent Mongolian mountains. We arrived in UB not long after and were directed to a spot where another rally was meeting. Lots of fun was had with the vice-president of the Mongolian Rally Organisation, nothing to do with the Mongol Rally), who promptly asked us to move on though not before more photos with Jacky parked alongside various Porsche Cayenne’s and Land Cruisers doing a rally from Germany to Siberia. Dave’s Bar, Sukhbataar Square, 4:30pm local time and we’d completed the Mongol Rally and even come an impressive 17th place. Rather tired we left almost immediately having been informed we’d have to give a £1500 deposit if we wanted to leave UB again. We spent the evening in a non-rally hostel, booked our flights home and the following day drove 80km out of the city and spent the next 36 hours camped by a river enjoying what felt like a well earned rest. The next day we drove to a Buddhist Monastery and then went horse riding making the mistake of not insisting on Russian saddles as the Mongols dedication to Chinggis Kahn means they still use the wooden saddles he designed to stop his soldiers falling asleep on the move. The ride was finished with us being invited into our guide’s home or ger and being offered fresh horse’s milk and vodka (not at once). Back in UB we checked into the Ralliers chosen hostel, Nassans, and headed to Dave’s for a pint. The day of the big end of rally party we spent a sad 3 hours delivering our faithful little Fiat Panda to a homeless children’s charity where it will be auctioned off and headed back to make ourselves vaguely presentable for what we were informed was a black tie event. The first few hours of the evening were excellent and I am told the rest too though in what is worryingly becoming something of a habit I fell asleep waking occasionally for a bit of a dance. This has had to be a vastly cut down account of some of the exploits of Chris and Dave’s 2006 Mongol Rally, it is still longer than planned. Our flight home was very early in the morning two days after the party. We touched down in style at Heathrow in Aeroflot’s surprisingly sybaritic business class. We are yet to confirm our fundraising total as people are still kindly making donations but we are indebted to all those who have helped us in our journey be it through sponsorship, mechanical aid or the much needed moral support. David Mortimer and Christopher Allen Well, they're off!!!! The HFT boys left Hyde Park in London on Sunday 16th July....next stop Mongolia....well almost!!! Follow their adventures on their websites (see News and Events), and better still give them a donation to make all their suffering seem worthwhile!!! Top. David Mortimer and Chris Allen wave goodbye as they set off from Hyde Park in Jacky (see no plate!!). Bottom. The Mini boys pose in front of their mounts all polished up and ready for the off - the cars that is, not the pilots!!! Two of the Mongol Rally minis made it as far as the Scottish Borders for the week-end the other day as Ben came North with Steve his co-driver, John (who is piloting one of the other cars which is still in dry dock being prepared) and Fran for a rag-raid on Edinburgh to raise funds for the Trust. Left. Steve ponders the inner workings of a misbehaving windscreen wiper - it's alright, it won't rain on you again once you leave the UK!!! and Right. The boys show off their trusty steeds to Dave Scott Aiton, This was not only good practise for the actual rally.....they managed not to fall out with each other for that length of trip anyway!!!!!.....but also managed to raise £530 from their stands on Princes Street. The beginning of June saw a very busy weekend of fund raising for HFT with two events on the one weekend. On Sat 3rd June Gordon and Claire Dennett from Spotteswoode, near Lauder hosted a magnificent Garden Opening which, on a lovely sunny day, attracted over 500 visitors. Clockwise from TL:- The pond area, Gordon and Claire showing off the Laburnum Walk, Time out for a cup of tea and home baking, and view up towards the house from the rhodedendron patch. They came to see how they have transformed 20 acres of sitka spruce and willow herb into a beautiful and restored woodland garden with banks of rhodendrons, newly formed ponds and a walled garden with a 50 metre laburnum arched walk. All very inpressive, particularily when you consider that Gordon and Claire have done all this since they retired!!!! As well as the walk around the garden there were several stalls including stick dressing, cake and produce (Claire had made 85lbs of marmalade through the winter!!!), a HFT stand selling the Journal etc and a plant stall with lots of roddies for sale along with other plants. After such a successful day we were staggered to find that Gordon and Claire had raised £4,330 for the Trust .....and they are still getting people turning up to view the garden, which they can do if they give a donation!!!! Well done all at Eagle Hall, Spotteswoode and the icing on the cake for them was that BBC Scotland heard about it and came and took a film of the garden, which was broadcast the following Thursday on their Beechgrove Garden programme. This was a fine tribute to all the hard work their helpers have put in not only recently, but over the past few years and to all those who gave of their time so freely on the day. The following day was all hands on deck for the annual HFT Pony Show Fun Day at Legerwood and with a bumper entry of 154 an early start of 9 o'clock was required to fit it all in before the judges suffered from stress-out, although we plyed them manfully with both solid and liquid refreshment throughout the day. All the fun of the fair at the Pony Show. The kids all had a fun time with the minimum of unscheduled departures from the back of their mounts and of course a huge thank you must go to the Buccleuch and Lauderdale Pony Clubs for the loan of their jumps, the stewards, judges and helpers who gave up a nice peaceful Sunday at home for the sake of the Trust and to all those who sponsored a class. The result was a very welcome almost £2,000 for the Trust coffers which made a very productive week end all round for the Trust even if it did leave a few people rather dazed by Monday morning!!! Hatfield's Lion Theatre Company has been tremendous again and sent us the profits from this year's production of "Black Comedy" which was a huge success and was even nominated for "Best College Play" at the Durham Oscars. Well done and it is great to see it going from strength to strength since it was revived by Hazel, Lucy Round and Rachael Hill back in 2003. The Parent's Association of St. Mary's School at Melrose has given the Trust a magnificent cheque for £500 which is the results of various fund raising events they have held over the past year. The only problem was that a very nervous Trustee had to speak to the children at morning assembly - terrifying!!!! - and only goes to prove there is no such thing as a free lunch!!!! Gemma Stroyan, a 6th year pupil at Loretto, who accompanied me with passages from "A Gap in the Life" when we gave a talk at the school about the Trust and Gap Years in general, decided to put on an evening of drama and music in aid of HFT and the Sandpiper Trust (another Trust which was set up in memory of a former pupil Sandy Dickson and provides resuccitation equipment to rural GPs) in March. She organised the whole evening based largely on pieces they are doing for their A levels, thereby killing two birds with one stone and getting some useful active revision as well as an audience. Not content with that, she also arranged a raffle and an auction of promises and then donned her auctioneers hat - a young lady of many talents who I'm sure we will hear more of in years to come!!! Hayley Titley, from Melrose in the Scottish Borders, wanted to do a fund raiser for the Trust so she pestered her parents who run the George and Abbotsford Hotel to run a coffee morning in aid of us in March. It was run in conjunction with a bus-full of people who come up from the South to stay every year and like to support a local charity while they are here. Well done Hayley!!!! Henry Davies from Hatfield College organised a day of sporting rivalry in February against Castle College in aid of Hazel's Footprints Trust which will hopefully become an annual competition. The Craignish Trust has kindly sent us a donation of £3,000 towards our chosen projects for this year and we thank them sincerely for their support and will try to find a worthy project to put their kind donation towards. Laura Knowles' (who you can read about elsewhere about her trip to Otjikondo) granny, Margaret Bennett from Sheffield sent us £135.50 from a collection she had instead of friends giving her presents for her 80th birthday. Many thanks - it is so touching when people want to do that. Artemis Investment Management sent us a cheque for £4,115 as well as all the great work they did sending out 25 boxes of equipment to Otjikondo which you can read about under "News and Events". Brilliant!!!!!! Well done with all of these. As you can see, any sum – large or small – can make a difference, so start planning and let us know what you are up to so that we can publicise your ideas on this website and perhaps inspire others to follow in your footsteps. We are also keen to give you any help we can. We want the Trust – and fundraising for it – to be fun because, let’s face it, that is what Hazel’s life was all about – with, admittedly, some very serious determination, commitment and resolve underlying the bubbly, smiling and enthusiastic exterior. Click here to go to other News & Events links below 
There were six sports contested comprising of a 24hr Ergo challenge on the rowing machines, Women's hockey, Netball, Men's hockey, Football and Rugby. Sad to report Castle ran out the winners overall by winning 4 out of the 6 events, but only just after a penalty time shoot-out in the soccer match. Never mind guys, you can only redeme yourselves next year and claim the Scott Aiton Trophy back to its rightful home!!! The day's sport was followed up by a "formal" with both teams present, then some singing in the Hatfield Bar, and then the Castle Bar and even, for the real stayers, a trip to the night club Clute. Hazel would have thoroughly approved!!!!! The event raised nearly £300.
