SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES IN SENEGAL AND GUINEA BISSAU

the RUST2DAKAR 2025 RALLY

Back in May, John and I were - to our delight and amazement - selected from among more than 500 applicants to take part in the 2025 Rust2Dakar endurance rally - the perfect way for us to celebrate his 75th birthday which was earlier this year.

This is not the normal rally raid through the desert: we have had to buy, and prepare, from our own funds, a vehicle suited to that part of Africa - a redoubtable 1990 Peugeot 405. Very comfortable, with lots of space. At the end of our 5,000 km challenge, we hand it over as a gift to the organising charity for repurposing within the local community – possibly to a women-only co-operative of taxi drivers - and then fly home to Spain.

We're signing up to this challenge to help raise awareness of and seeking donations towards the impressive work of Tavolo8 Humanitarian Association: an NGO working in Senegal and Guinea Bissau.

Please support our fundraising: a contribution from you will help make a big difference to people’s life opportunities in some of the world’s poorest countries.

With only a few weeks to go before we set out on 28 December, we're approaching 50% of our sponsorship target. Huge thanks to everyone who has already contributed.

Find out more about Tavolo 8 and its inspirational community development work in Senegal and Guinea Bissau here: https://www.tavolo8.org/vision (available in English if you use a laptop/ computer. Italian only if using a phone).

Next, please come back to this GoFundMe if you want to contribute. Don’t click on the DONATE tab on T8s website, or they won’t know it’s come via us!

Rust2Dakar is the realisation of a dream held by both of us since 1993, when we signed up for a London-Cape Town rally. But it was an event that eventually – for geopolitical reasons – couldn’t happen.

This year’s challenge, of course, is a bit shorter – a mere 5,000 km by car from Tangier (Morocco) to Guinea Bissau, via the legendary end-point of the Paris-Dakar rallies of the 1990s, the fabulous Pink Lake of Senegal. It has to be done!

Our trusty mechanic, Miquel, of Dynasty Motors here in Tarragona province, has spent the summer months fettling the 405 for desert conditions. 1990 coincidentally is the same year that former World Rally Champion Ari Vatanen won the Dakar Rally, in his highly-modified Works Peugeot 405. We hope we'll do as well as him.

We even entered this year's Rally Costa Brava Històric, giving the newly-sorted car a bit of a try-out at the end of October..

To quote Tavolo 8: 'Rust2Dakar isn’t just a rally; it’s an experience that leaves its mark—an adventure that changes lives, pushing you beyond your limits, taking you to incredible places, but most importantly, it allows you to make a tangible difference in the world.’

We'd love it if you too could make your own contribution, by giving to this fundraiser, and/or sharing widely among friends and family.

Don't worry how much or how little you can give ...

... everything helps these communities in need.

Thank you so much.

'It’s not just a rally; it’s the challenge you’ll talk about forever.

It’s not just a journey; it’s a story you’ll write yourself.'