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RALLY 4 LIFE

30 Sep 2009

RAISING $2M FOR JUST A DROP Canadian and UK Duo in ‘Rally4Life’

Two top international rally drivers in Canada and the UK are hoping to raise $4m for Just a Drop, the global water-aid charity for the travel and tourism industry and FeViva World Missions.

Canadian, Mark Jennings-Bates and UK’s Mick Extance are already preparing for the world’s most arduous off-road endurance race in 2011 - the Dakar Rally.

But that’s not enough for this intrepid twosome and the Bowler-Off Road team. They are planning ‘Rally4Life’, an ambitious means of raising money by participating in the Dakar, helping Just a Drop and Fe Viva to bring clean water to thousands of children and their families in the third world.

Driver Jennings-Bates and co-driver Extance will be launching their bid to be the best at the Dakar in November at World Travel Market 2009 in London.

They will also unveil to delegates (South American region of the exhibition), the Bowler off-road vehicle that they will be pinning their hopes on to carry them across some of the planet’s most difficult and dangerous terrain.

“We wanted this to be a race that had real meaning”, said businessman Jennings-Bates, “not only for myself, Mick and the Bowler team, but also for the thousands of children who right now are dying at the rate of every 20 seconds because they simply do not have clean water.

“We can do so much to highlight their plight worldwide and to raise money that will make a real difference to people’s lives.”

“Many amazing people are helping Just a Drop fund water projects but none are more courageous or high profile as this one”, said Fiona Jeffery, founder and chairman of the charity.

“Rally4 Life is going to be a race against time in more ways than one, saving the lives of children. It’s also about two people pitting their wits and their experience against an unimaginable, grueling off-road route that can take them into anything from mud, dunes and rocks, covering distances of up to an exhausting 8-900 kilometres a day.”

Jeffery said that launching ‘Rally4Life’ at World Travel Market on Tuesday 10 November is particularly appropriate.

“The Dakar is a major world-class event attracting millions of spectators and sports tourism visitors across the word, uniting in this instance the Canadian, UK and South America markets that will, of course, be out in force doing business at World Travel Market.”

Added Jennings-Bates, already in serious training for the Dakar, said: “As far as I am concerned, the person in that co-drivers seat is driving the car as much as any driver. Without complete co-operation between the driver and the co-driver and an instinctual understanding of how each other works, the optimal speeds for each day of the event can never be attained.

“Driving fast in rally is the easiest thing to do! Finishing and placing high is not easy.

“I am really excited that Mick, a veteran of the Dakar, has agreed to share his wisdom of this prestigious event and work with us” he said.

Just a Drop, launched 11 years ago, has helped more than a million people in 28 countries. The charity receives support from many organisations worldwide, including Hayes & Jarvis, part of TUI Travel, Visit USA and the Institute of Travel & Tourism .

Log on to www.justadrop.org, www.feviva.org and www.rally4life.org for further information about the charities and Mark Jennings-Bates and Mick Extance’s bid to win the Dakar for charity.

 Tuesday 10 November, World Travel Market

12.30 hrs, Platinium Suites 5/6,
WTM International Press Centre, ExCeL London

Top rally drivers – Canada’s Mark Jennings-Bates and veteran UK racer, Mick Extance will unveil plans to win the Dakar, the world’s toughest rally.