Here is a letter from Paul and Chris who drove their £200 banger from Calais to Barcelona in aid of the MapAction charity:
"We made it!
Firstly, as we hope you are now all aware, we made it all the way to Barcelona in our £200 car without any major mishaps along the way.
Secondly, and more importantly, we made our fund-raising target thanks to the overwhelming generosity of YOU - our supporters. Thank you very much. In fact we have shattered our £3,000 target by a long way. When the gift aid element is added onto what has been donated so far, MapAction currently stand to receive almost £3,900 from this event.
Thanks are due also to our corporate sponsors, without whom we couldn’t have taken part in this event. Between them they have more than covered our costs and we have been able to divert an additional £1,000 into the charity. Not forgetting those who supplied the maps, the tracking facility and repaired and serviced our trusted car – The Green Goddess - now living a life of retirement in Barcelona (we hope)!
David Spackman, Chief Executive of MapAction, has asked us to pass on his own vote of thanks:
“MapAction is hugely honoured and impressed by the efforts of Chris and Paul to undertake the Barcelona rally on behalf of MapAction. The daily blog proved fascinating and we were glad of the opportunity to follow their GPS tracklog along the route. We were particularly pleased that they dropped into the MapAction office on their way. They did splendidly well and we’re proud of their sense of fun, practical hard work, and charitable aims.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who supported the redoubtable duo and who made very generous donations to MapAction. It was a wonderful gesture by all those involved and MapAction is greatly appreciative for the kind donations. It has given us all a great fillip.
For the record during the car rally MapAction had volunteers in Papua New Guinea, Kathmandu, Panama, and in Norway/Sweden. We are about to despatch volunteer teams to Sri Lanka with the Mines Advisory Group, to Pakistan with the humanitarian logistics centre, and a separate team to the regional office of the UN in Islamabad. The money raised therefore by the car rally has helped MapAction to provide its present humanitarian GIS service. I hope all our donors will take satisfaction from this current record of charitable effort.
So special thanks to, and admiration for, Chris and Paul in the first instance, and a heartfelt thank you from MapAction to everyone who donated so generously.
David Spackman, Director MapAction”
So thanks again for all your support.
Best wishes
Paul and Chris"
The People's Map would like to congratulate Paul and Chris again on undertaking this challenge for a great cause!