Our Family tea raised £400
many thanks to all our supporters



Our winner

http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/Ella-s-Ollie-winner-children-s-charity/story-13427784-

www.youtube.com/watch www.youtube.com/watch
Fran sky dive raising funds for care for Kids





Winners of our design a mascot competition are-

the guys at care for kids North Devon, I knew that I had to do something to help their coffers.

From this, the idea of a sponsored escape from Barnstaple was born, with three trusty friends in tow, we escaped from Barnstaple Panniers at ten O’clock, Tom and myself headed to Exeter on a begged for bus ticket, whilst Sarah and Jade managed to blag a car from a local estate agents to do a local collection around North Devon, in Exeter we planned to rattle buckets for a bit, this turned out to be a harder and more soul wrecking activity than we could ever of imagined.

The girls managed to get a free train ride to Exeter and joined us in collecting by five O’clock we had managed to collect about two hundred pounds, during the process we had help from a giant walking red Lego brick and a local busker who made up songs on request, so many thanks to you both.

After an amazingly hard day we decided that the girls heading off into the night would not be such a good idea, we planned to return to Barnstaple and that i would set the benchmark as to how far you can get for free in twenty four hours the next day.

So at four pm on Wednesday the 12^th April I set out from Barnstaple, almost

immediately I was given a lift up to the M5 at Tiverton Junction 27, at about five fifteen a very kind business man from London picked me up and took me via the A303 to London’s M3 Fleet services, a quick coffee to get the required proof receipt and back on the road, no more than ten minutes and the next lift secured to the M25 Clackets Lane services, this is where local knowledge, or a lack of any concerning the M25 cut in, and I found myself at about half past eleven at a closing services in the middle of nowhere, some luck and about an hour of worrying saw me standing at a very busy roundabout just short of the M6 junction, getting on the north bound motorways is a very difficult task when hitchhiking, luckily for me Mr Timothy .... had left his laptop at home in Manchester, he believing in fate, gave me a very swift lift up to Knutsford services on the M6, he was not sure how much further I would get in the early hours of the morning but thanks were given and luck was wished.

Now of all the people to meet at the Motorway services, a gaggle of Mancunian taxi drivers were the last ones on my ‘hope for list’, but when I explained why I was wearing an orange boiler suit at about 1.30 in the morning they pledged all the help they could possibly heap upon me, so the most surreal journey, through Manchester via missing bridges and scenic routes to Manchester airport, here all vestiges of charitable spirit evaporated much to the disgust of the J & M Limo and Club class 24-7 Taxi boys, so in an amazing act of kindness they clubbed together for the fuel and gave me a taxi ride up to Lancaster, all the time attempting to get me on local radio, hey you guys Dave, Kev and Magic you are living proof that human kindness still exists.

At the local services near Lancaster a quick chat with the locals soon got me an exciting swift lift up to Cumbria, Julian you are a gent, never forgotten.

With patience and energy fast being exhausted a 40 foot mirage stopped and a lift to the promised land of Scotland was secured, thoughts of getting to the highlands entered my head, but an offer of a return lift to Keel services soon softened my reserve and thoughts of home and bed replaced the highlands, Scotland made, Gretna green seen and Lockerbie became the furthest north i would get this time, a very quick visit to Gretna services for the needed receipt and the very slow 55 mph return journey began at about eight O’clock. Two 0’clock saw me trying my luck again at Keel services, due to oversized garage doors being the order of the day in Western-Super-Mare I got a lift back to Bristol, the scenery being much more familiar my mood and energy took an upturn, the rain started and I was thinking of seeing how charitable my wife was feeling, when two catalytic converter sales boys from Cornwall took pity when no one else would. A361 reached, excitement and hunger kicked in adrenalin was running my whole body on reserve, thanks to two of my colleagues, the final drag to Barnstaple was completed right to the front door.

25.5 hrs, 1045 miles completed, HUGE thanks to all the very kind people along the way, an expected total of about 400 odd pounds will be winging its way to the children of North Devon via the Care for kids team.