Last time Duncan Mortimer drove round the world in his Mini, he had problems with his maps. In an average car, folded sheet maps are awkward enough to handle, but in a 10 foot, 1978 Mini Clubman 1275 GT, jammed with everything that Duncan and his Co Driver James Horrod needed for a round the world trip, vast crumply sheets maps were enough to make them swear.

And for his 1996 trip, he needed a boot full of them.

2009 will see the 50th anniversary of the Mini.


To celebrate this marvellous car, and to raise money and awareness for cancer charities and The Help For Heroes Fund, Duncan, from Chichester, West Sussex, is to drive his Mini Clubman round the world again.

This Eight-month drive will take in many more countries than his last trip, including some of Australia's harshest terrain including the Far East, China, Mongolia and Russia.

This time, in place of folded paper maps, Duncan will be using a Geographical Information System.

Using MapInfo Professional Version 9.0 with a Map Info digital map of the world on a laptop computer, linked to a Global Positioning Satellite system, he will know where he is at all times.

Sponsorship is helping Duncan in this task, with an array of laptops and built in Computer in his car, supplied by Novetech Computers, and GPS system for pin point accuracy.



HELP FOR HEROES

I was driven to tears when I watched the evening news last year and saw a soldier who was missing both legs and an arm, having been almost fatally injured in the Middle East.

This was the point at which I decided to do all I could to help raise funds for the Help For Heroes Fund and support them, as they really are Heroes and should be honoured as Heroes and given as much help as is needed.

These guys go off to work, just like you and me, earning a daily crust and although they know what may be involved when they sign up to the forces, this is no ordinary job and these guys and girls certainly are no ordinary people and I don't know of any other job that takes so many lives and wounds so many.

I was put to shame when I learned our own Government almost turned their backs on these wounded Heroes and it was up to the likes of you and me to dig deep into our pockets and help them out, in other words bail the Government out for their lack of interest.

So during my drive I would kike to bring the Help For Heroes Fund to the attention of all my Mini followers and hope together we can raise a lot of funds for such a worthy coarse and really help our Heroes.

More Pictures!

 

 

What an excellent an worthy cause! Please let the Mini groups know how to help. FL has many Mini/MINI groups. The best wired is Sunshine MINIs http://www.sunshineminis.org/forums/index.php
I'm sure we could get a fundraiser together for this.