Erris man to drive from London to Mongolia

Erris man to drive from London to Mongolia


Anton McNulty
antonmcnulty@mayonews.ie

An Erris man has entered an international rally with a difference which will see him travel across Europe and Asia in a van which will be donated to a charity at the final destination in Mongolia.
Twenty-six-year old Lewis Lavelle from Pollathomas in Erris has entered the Mongolia Charity Rally run by the charity Go Help, which will start in London on July 6 and finish over 10,000 miles later in the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator.
Unlike most rallies this is not a race and is unique in that when the participating teams finally reach Mongolia, they will donate their vehicle to Go Help’s projects in the Asian country. Speaking to The Mayo News Lewis explained he has volunteered in a number of countries in Asia and admitted he was looking for another adventure when he came across the charity.
This year Lewis has teamed up with Evy Perez, a Venezuelan national living in the Galway area and two others to form Team Due East and are currently raising funds for the adventure. The charity Go Help, who do a great deal of work in Mongolia in terms of providing an ambulance service in rural areas and providing resources for education and welfare to improve standards of living.
Lewis works in the Delphi Adventure Centre in Killary and admits he has little mechanical experience other than getting a few crash course from friends on how to change filters. Each team has to mark out their own route and Lewis explained that due to time constraints they are taking the most direct route through the following countries; Ireland, England, France, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, back up through Kazakhstan and a bit of Russia again and finally, down into Mongolian, taking roughly six weeks to complete.
The route will bring them through some of the harshest terrain including a 200 mile trip over a dirt track through the Uzbekistani desert. They are also budgeting a few dollars for border police who they have been told they will need to pay to let them cross.
When asked if his family are concerned of his safety, he replied, “Oh yeah, it took them a while to take it all on board and were seriously worried. Even my friends their first thought was no way can it be done but there are starting to come on board,” he said.
They have to raise a minimum of £1,000 sterling for the charity and they also have to purchase a van for the trip which has to be under nine years old and in good condition to make the 10,000 mile trip and also be of use to the charity.
“We are looking at something like a Ford Transit and I know it is a long shot but hopefully there is someone out there who could possibly do something for us in providing a vehicle or maybe subsidising the cost”.
A fundraising event for Go Help will take place in The Cobbler’s Bar in Westport on Saturday, April 27, with 100 per cent of all proceeds raised on the night going to Go Help. There will be music on the night by Swimming With Raptors and Tom Funk, with lots of prizes to be won all night.

For more information, check out our website or Go Help’s website for details - www.dueeastmongolia.webs.com; www.gohelp.org.uk; www.charityrallies.org.

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