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JCT600 fleet team rise to charity challenge of tower tour in classic Cortina!

cortina team
Neill Richards, Garry Gilmore and Neil Widdowson of JCT600's fleet division preparing to set off from the Bradford head office

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30 October 2015

JCT600 group fleet director Neill Richards and two colleagues have completed a 2,370-mile charity challenge  visiting four towers across four countries in four days in a 32-year-old classic Ford Cortina!

Setting off from JCT600’s head office in Apperley Bridge, Bradford, on 23 October, the team drove to The Blackpool Tower, The Tower of London, the Eiffel Tower and finally the Leaning Tower of Pisa, all in a bid to raise funds for JCT600’s chosen charity for 2015, Alzheimer’s Society.

cortina blackpool
Garry Gilmore, Neill Richards and Neil Widdowson of JCT600’s fleet division with the Cortina near the Blackpool Tower

The intrepid team comprised Neill and colleagues Garry Gilmour, JCT600 Mercedes-Benz group business development manager, and Neil Widdowson, JCT600 group fleet centre – senior administrator.

They completed the gruelling Euro challenge in just four days in a 1983 fleet favourite, a Cortina 2.0GL.  Travelling from Bradford to The Blackpool Tower, they turned south to visit The Tower of London, and then drove down to Folkestone and through the Tunnel to Calais.

After a photo opportunity next to The Eiffel Tower, they headed south again towards Geneva for the Alps, going through the Mont Blanc Tunnel before taking a right turn down the autostrada to the Leaning Tower of Pisa and then heading home to Bradford.

“When we came up with this slightly crazy scheme back in March, we had no idea quite how many obstacles we would face,” explained Neill.

“With the workshop in Chesterfield stacked out with work, the Cortina wasn’t ready until early summer and problems in Calais then forced us to delay our trip.

“On one of the first test runs to Blackpool, my trusty Cortina broke down on the M62, meanwhile one of the team was suffering from severe back problems and had to withdraw.

“Despite all of the problems, the faithful team of three finally set off last week and we had a fantastic trip with no mishaps – ironically, the tower that nearly made us fail was our very own Tower of London due to road works!  We covered 2,370 miles in four days 7.5 hours, from the head office in Bradford and back.

“We made Pisa in three days 6.5 hours and the car did not flinch once from all the abuse.  What’s more, we’ve succeeded in beating our target and raising over £2,000 so far for Alzheimer’s Society – thanks to everyone who supported us and helped made our unique road trip possible.”

To support Neill and the team, visit the jct600 fleet challenge justgiving site.

Throughout 2015, JCT600’s 2,300-strong team across its 50 dealerships have once again been taking part in a variety of fund-raising events in support of a single chosen charity with colleagues taking on the challenge of attempting to raise even more funds than last year.

  • Alzheimer’s Society, also adopted by the Small Fleet Leasing Federation as its charity for 2016, is the leading support and research charity for people with dementia, their families and carers.  In 2015 there will be 850,000 people with dementia in the UK, with numbers set to rise to one million by 2025.

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