In December last year my good friend Andrew Jones had devastating news when his niece Imogen Daly was diagnosed with a serious liver condition, tests were carried out at North Staffordshire University Hospital and she was quickly referred to Birmingham Children's Hospital. Imogen had to spend her first Christmas in hospital and the outcome of this worrying and emotional time is that she has to have a liver transplant. Imogen was only three months old when she was diagnosed which makes the situation even more shocking. I am sure that the majority of people are unaware of liver problems in babies and young children.

There is however a wonderful charity that provides help, support and information to parents and families trying to come to terms with such a situation, and that is the Children's Liver Disease Foundation (CLDF). It was at this time I became aware of the CLDF and the huge amount of work that they do, it is their vision that childhood liver diseases will be understood, prevented and treated effectively. The support from the CLDF is provided in person and by means of information which is included in their web site www.childrensliverdisease.org and is invaluable at these difficult and stressful times. Supporting research into childhood liver disease is another vital area of the CLDF’s work and it not only enhances understanding and improves treatments, but also gives young people and their families hope for a better future.

I know that the CLDF have been a massive support to Andrews’s family whilst trying to come to terms with Imogen’s condition and treatment. As a recently new father myself I can empathise but cannot begin to understand what Imogen`s parents, Sebastian and Charlotte have gone through as well as other parents of children affected.

In order to create a positive outcome of a very sad situation Andrew soon though of ideas on how to make a small contribution to try and make things that little bit better by raising much needed funds for the CLDF

Andrew being a Mechanic by trade, a “self confessed” comedian and a bit of “wheeler and dealer” meant something novel, funny and an image everybody could relate to was needed. It also had to involve the charities colour yellow......

The rest of the story is a little hazy as the phone call for help I received from Andrew came late one Friday Night, but I do remember the words Del boy, Robin Reliant and John O groats to Lands End.

In the cold light of day the challenge was set. At the end of August 2012 I am involved in driving a yellow painted Robin Reliant a 1000 miles from one end of the British Isles to the other with two of my very good friends Jonsey & Milly all in the name of charity!!

So,

If you have a sense of humour and want to see two mechanics, a engineer and a Reliant Robin drive from John O’Groats to Lands End within a week raising much needed money and awareness for the CLDF then please sponsor us whatever you can afford, even just 1p per mile. We have already had a lot of support and goodwill to our challenge and hope that this continues to grow and grow. You can keep an eye on our progress via our face book page Fools N Spanners or our twitter page @foolsnspanners. Please find time to look at the CLDF website and learn a little bit more about this fantastic charity and all they do to help parents and children suffering from this terrible affliction.