Redcliffe
couple Neil and Joanna Seabrook are preparing to travel 16,000 km from London
to Mongolia in a second hand car rally organised to raise funds for charity as team
Wombat-Khan.
The Mongol
rally is still a year away – but that hasn’t stopped the couples’ determined
fundraising effort – the pair will split the money raised between WA’s PMH
Foundation and a Mongolian children’s charity. To date Joanna and Neil have already
raised more than $3000 for the PMH Foundation, and still have plenty of time to
reach their $25,000 target.
49-year-old
Neil and 38-year-old Joanna expect the journey to take six weeks as they travel
through Scandinavia, St Petersburg, Russia and Kazakhstan before their car is auctioned
off when the pair reach the end of the road at Ulaanbaatar, the capital of
Mongolia.
In
accordance with the rules of the rally, the car driven must be second hand,
less than 10 years old and have an engine capacity of less than 1.2 litres.
Neil
said the reason behind their determined fundraising effort for the PMH
Foundation was to give something back to the children’s hospital, who among
other organisations, made a huge impact on his wife Joanna and his step-son
James.
“Fifteen
years ago, Joanna, who was then pregnant, was involved in a car accident in the
south west,” he said. “The trauma of the car accident made Joanna go into
labour prematurely and they both had to be air-lifted to Perth.
“Today
we are very lucky that James is a healthy 15-year-old boy and it’s nice to be
able to give something back to thank PMH for the quality care he received.”
Neil
said they were looking forward to the rally but still had many preparations to
go through before the event and just one of the challenges they were likely to
encounter in many countries was the roads, with some being almost non-existent.
“The
trip is part of a birthday treat for me next year, as I turn 50, but it’s not
only Joanna and I who will enjoy the journey as we hope we can raise enough to
be of benefit to the organisations we are supporting as well,” he said.
To
donate to the Seabrooks visit their Everyday Hero page www.everydayhero.com.au/neil_seabrook.
The
Seabrooks are holding a quiz night to fundraise for the PMH Foundation in the
Guildford Town Hall on July 21 from 7pm until late. To register your interest, contact
Neil Seabrook on 0409118544 or via neil.seabrook@bristowgroup.com.
The PMH Foundation was established in 1998, and
has granted more than $35 million to PMH to fund life-saving research
and capital projects. The Foundation has also funded close to a quarter of
the equipment currently used by the hospital.
