Adrian Bell

Team Hesco, powered by Commando Joe

Fundraising for Meningitis Now
£143,784
raised of £20,000 target
by 227 supporters
Donations cannot currently be made to this page
Participants: Ben Fouracre, Charlie Martell, Pete Rowlands and Mark Waterson
Meningitis Now

Verified by JustGiving

RCN 803016 (England & Wales) SC037790 (Scotland)
We support those affected by meningitis to stop the disease devastating lives

Story

In June 2006, Commando Joe - rowing as Team Hesco - and fifteen other teams will set out from the North American coastline in a 29ft rowing boat, aiming to cover the 3,118 nautical miles to Falmouth, UK, in as little time as possible. The journey is likely to take about 45-60 days and will require supreme effort from all those involved. It will be the second extreme challenge for the Commando Joe team - in April 2005 they competed in a 320-mile footrace to the North Pole, smashing the previous record by finishing in nine days, 17 hours and 39 minutes.

The 2006 Shepherds Ocean Fours Atlantic Rowing Race is the first four-man crossing of the Ocean from the United States to the UK mainland and follows a more northerly route than previous two-man races. Teams will encounter difficult currents, cold weather, high seas and even icebergs.

As well as the mental and physical challenge of competition, the team is dedicating its involvement to the memory of Gareth Rowlands, Pete's sixteen-year-old son. One day in May 2003, Pete and his wife Helen received a call from Gareth's boarding school, informing them of the devastating news that Gareth had suddenly died from meningitis. Just a couple of hours before he had been playing rugby with the school team, joking with his friends and talking about coming home for the half-term break.

Our original fundraising target was £20,000, which we have now comfortably exceeded.  Please help us to reach our revised target of £100,000.  With that, you'll be helping the Meningitis Trust to continue its excellent work in increasing awareness of the disease, funding further research and, most importantly, providing the all-important support to those like Pete, whose families' lives have been irrevocably changed because of the disease.

For more information about our team and the challenges we're facing, please visit our website at http://www.teamhesco.com. Here you can also sign up to our e-mail newsletter so you can keep track of our progress.

Thank you for your support and interest in our Challenge. Please donate generously.

About the charity

Meningitis Now

Verified by JustGiving

RCN 803016 (England & Wales) SC037790 (Scotland)
In the 30 years since Meningitis Now was founded, we have funded research, provided support & worked to raise the public's awareness of the disease. Our vision is a future where no one in the UK loses their life to meningitis and everyone affected gets the support they need to rebuild their lives.

Donation summary

Total raised
£143,783.03
+ £3,402.01 Gift Aid
Online donations
£16,784.67
Offline donations
£126,998.36

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