Thank you for visiting our justgiving web page.

We are trying to raise money for the 'Help for Heroes' charity. The work they do helping wounded soldiers and their families, we think, is so important.

I have never been the sort of person to raise money for a charity or cause, but after starting offroading as a hobby I saw this great idea, a Help for Heroes 4x4 rally across Europe! I thought it would be a great way to raise money and awareness for the charity.

So for some reason I became the sort of person who raises money for a good cause and signed up. Then I decided to tell my girlfriend I'd signed her up as my co-driver. Luckily she wasn't angry at me for not asking her first - she actually is as keen as I am to raise as much money as we can.

Now Chloe and I have grown up on the Isle of Wight. I've only driven on the UK mainland once and Chloe never has. So driving on the continent will be interesting; and then there is driving off-road, something I'm new to, and Chloe has yet to practise. We really are looking forward to this challenge.

We desperately need your donations: the minimum to enter the rally is £200.

But we would like to raise more than this! I really think Help for Heroes is a worthy cause and even if you don't agree with the wars in Afganistan and Iraq, the men and women who are trying to do their jobs in very dangerous and stressful conditions, deserve our support. We should help them in every way we can.

Every penny of your donation goes straight to Help for Heroes, with a bit more if you are a UK taxpayer because of the gift aid.

 

THE RALLY

The HELP FOR HEROES EUROPEAN 4x4 RALLY 2010 follows the path and tells the story of the Allied Invasion through Europe and includes parts fabled by the Band of Brothers book and television series. As young men, who knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear, the Allied Forces landed in France early on D-Day morning – 6th June 1944. The liberation of Europe had commenced.

The event will start at Noon on Saturday 19th June 2010 at a secret location in North Wiltshire. It will be a 1650 mile expedition encompassing 6 countries in 10 days. This non-speed event comprising a maximum of 30+ teams will be part history tour, fun competition, part off-road driving and part club-type social, open to all types of 4x4 vehicles. The money raised by teams will be donated to our chosen charity, HELP FOR HEROES.

After using byways on Salisbury Plain we will all go to Portsmouth to embark on the ferry over to France. In addition to Normandy, the H4H Rally route will visit the Market Garden and Rhine offensives at , , where on 17 September 1944, in the largest airborne operation ever seen thousands of paratroopers descended from the sky by parachute or glider up to 150 km behind enemy lines.

The route then moves south, to Bastogne in Belgium where, in the coldest winter for decades, the Germans made a final push – 'the Battle of the Bulge'. Towards Germany, the rally path then visits a Maginot Line fortification in Alsace, France, then into Germany and Dachau with its horrors of war.

We end our journey at Hitler's "impenetrable" Eagle's Nest at on 29th June 2010.

Go to http://www.h4hrally.co.uk/ to get more infomation on this challenge.

 

THE TEAM

Driver - Stuart Paffett  23

Co-driver - Chloe Thatcher 24

 

THE VEHICLE

We will be using my TOYOTA HILUX MK3 DOUBLE CAB PICK-UP. Lets hope he makes it!

 

THE CHARITY

 Help for Heroes provides financial, social and emotional support to millions who have served and are currently serving in the Armed Forces, and their dependants. This event is independently organised; the sole beneficiary being the Help For Heroes Charity.

 

Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - We raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Stuart and Chloe