Dale and Ellis take part in the Club Triumph Round Britain Reliability Run 2021 in a car that should have done the event, but never did…

Firstly, thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page.

Back in 1966, whilst sitting and chatting during a visit to Le Mans, two friends came up with a hare-brained scheme to drive around Britain in 48 hours starting in London, travelling to John O’Groats, then down to Land’s End and finally back to London covering some 2000 miles. The first event started at the Standard Triumph dealership in Cockfosters, North London, with the dealership and factory supplying all 6 cars used on the run; the rest as they say is history. Those two people were the late Les Mills and recently departed Club President Derek Pollock. The two of them took part in the event some 14 times, before assuming solely organising roles as the event grew and became more charity fund-raising based, but during that time a certain “one owner from new” TR4, despite being famously photographed at the start and finish more than once, was never used on the run itself. Now a few sharp-eyed people will know that  the most notable of these ‘appearances’ was in the publicity photos taken outside Broadfields at the start of the 1966 event, but this was in fact only because the gent bringing a TR4A from the factory hadn’t arrived, so Derek’s TR4 “stood in” for the pictures.

Spin forward 53 years and Derek and his family have entrusted his beloved TR4 to Dale to look after in the same way Derek had for all those years as he was no longer able to drive it “as it should be used”. At that very time, Dale and Ellis promised to put something right – for the car to take part in the RBRR.

So here we are... and it’s going to be a bit different to the usual luxury of a nice big saloon with three drivers – with mutterings already of “we’re getting too old for this!” Dale, already a veteran of 15 RBRRs and Ellis a mere spring chicken, with this being his 10^th are ready to embark on this latest adventure and another 2000 miles in 48 hours.

If you want to read more about the event, why not purchase the book about its history from our Club Shop… it really is a jolly good read: https://www.clubtriumph.co.uk/store/product/11-fully-illustrated-book-50-years-of-the-rbrr/

The charity: The event this time will be supporting the Motor Neurone Disease Association https://www.mndassociation.org.
Motor neurone disease (MND) describes a group of diseases that affect the nerves (motor neurones) in the brain and spinal cord that tell your muscles what to do. There is currently no cure for MND, with any available treatment just slowing the progression and maximizing the individual's independence and comfort. Life expectancy following first symptoms is around 3 years for about half of those with the condition, stretching to around 10 years in rarer circumstances. We hear of so many life changing diseases these days, but we can honestly say this cruel, dramatically life shortening disease is something we have to help with finding a cure for.

As ever, we will be covering all the entry costs and fuel (both for the car and ourselves!) with all sponsorship received going to the charity.

Thank you for travelling back down memory lane with us. We hope you can help us along to our target with a donation however big or small – it truly will all help.

Dale and Ellis

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. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.