Three men travel from Aylesbury to Gambia by van for charity

They are travelling 3700-miles carrying used prosthetic limbs to donate

Author: Sonia NyathiPublished 20th Jan 2023

Three men have set off to travel from Aylesbury to Gambia in a van to raise money for charity.

The three men, Dafydd Powell, David Belgrove, Johnny Lynmouth call themselves "The Aylesbury Desert Ducks".

They are taking part in the Bangers to Banjul Challenge which is a 3700-mile trip to Banjul in The Gambia carrying used NHS prosthetic limbs to donate to Legs4Africa.

Most of the members attended Aylesbury Grammar school together and one member of the team, Michael Donnachie unfortunately could no longer attend.

The group have raised over ÂŁ3,000 on their GoFundMe page so far.

We spoke to David who is one of the participants he tells us why they are doing the challenge:

"I was living and working in The Gambia and my friends came out to visit me to celebrate my 60th birthday and while we were celebrating I mentioned this challenge and we decided to do it and when we get to The Gambia the vehicle will be auctioned off to charity as well."

David says it will be a challenging journey, "I think we feel quite excited now, it’s going to be a challenging journey, there will be a lot of challenges a long the way, we’re looking forward to it and eager to start."

They will be travelling 3700 miles by van

The 3700-mile trip will go in to France, Spain, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania and Senegal and then finally Gambia.

David tells us that the charity does important work: "Child amputees need help to prosthetic limbs to go to school and they also need constant medical attention because if you’re a child and you’ve had a limb amputated your bones carry on growing and so they need constant medical attention".

On arrival in Gambia their van will be auctioned, with the proceeds going to local African charities.

They are funding the trip expenses themselves, including the purchase of the van.

For information on the campaign and a chance to donate, please visit their GoFundMe page.

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