A DRIVERS VIEWPOINT...... Hi everyone, This is a new cyber voice....that of Ian Collins, who is one of the 3/4 drivers who will be helping Bob and Nick on this amazing and challenging undertaking.

As I write we are, depending on your literary or musical preferences, either a) parked a short distance from Wigan .. for George Orwell readers the home of course of the famous (or perhaps infamous) Wigan Pier or b) Liverpool and the Mersey .. and need I say more about the musical history of that area?

OK back to the Podge mission .. after two weeks on the road with these two guys it seems to me that there are three elements to this whole thing namely 1) the physical factors 2) the spritual or emotional factors and 3) the communal.

So how do these come into it ???

Firstly the physical factors are pretty obvious .. tired limbs, aching feet, sore back, constant pounding in that space behind the eyes (you know the one I mean), the stress of calf muscles under constant near unbearable strain, the cramps due to residual lactic acid in the system after violent exercise, the eyes which ache from staring through driving rain to catch a glimpse of the distant horizon, the sheer mind-numbing ache in the vertebrae of the lower back .. all of these make up the immense physical challenge .. well that’s what it’s like for me driving so don’t spare any sympathy for the guys running .. all they get are a few blisters. I bet they’ve been telling you that they are doing all the work .. come on guys .. get real!!!!! You get the fresh air and I have to stay cooped up in this warm cab all day.

Secondly and perhaps more seriously, the spritual or emotional challenges are awesome .. up at five every morning, facing another 26 miles, each day .. every day for five weeks or more. I am just in awe of these guys morale and high spirits, which waver sometimes but they bounce back and do it again and again and again .. wow!! What drives them on is the same thing that I got a feeling for when I read and heard about the simple wish to make life better for a terrific boy who deserves the best he can get in his life .. that’s what this is all about and that’s what I hear Nick and Bob talk about when it gets tough .. and then they just get on with actions that speak louder than anything I can say. Truly spiritual to see and to be allowed to help is just great.

Thirdly the communal elements are so important. In the first and most direct instance this team in the mobile home just has to work well. Sounds easy?? Can you imagine what its like to stop the mobile home from rocking about when two grown men snore their heads off all night and then they accuse you of being the only one who really snores .. how can I snore when I’m awake looking after them 24 X 7? But the wider communal team which I have seen in action directly or indirectly is so very very important .. the physios who find us anywhere we are, the people at Little Chef who put up with us as we repower the rig and top water up, the support people who run into the tens who back this whole thing up .. incredible!! and the community at large, the people we talk to in the street as we stop for a break, the terrific football fans at the grounds who allow us to collect on matchdays, the .. well you get the point ... its amazing how good these people are when you look them in the eye and they hear this story of a boy who needs their help .. they are all amazing. Please, if you get a call from Bob, Nick or anyone and you can help tell and spread that story in the press or on radio or TV or simply in the neighbourhood .... just help .. it really is that easy.

Now a word of advice to anybody who is thinking of volunteering to drive for folks doing something like this ....... DOOOOOOOOOOOON’T DO IT!!!!!! Its quicker and less painful to get your root canals drilled or trim the hairs in your nostrils without anaesthetic or drink a cup of granny’s dandelion wine neat.

If you still want to volunteer..here’s a short list of best practice guidelines .. that is be prepared to be brilliant at : — making 16 cups of strong tea (per hour) — cooking at least 3 gourmet meals a day on a glorified primus stove (or bunsen burner for our science graduates out there) — taking an advanced practical course in unblocking Elsan toilets .. truly a hands—on experience .. next week we’ll have enough money for a brush!! — mending a variety of hoses, broken hinges, bleeding toes, fridges, achilles tendons, electricity supply cables, windows, clotheslines, leaking trainers etc all with a toolkit of 1 pair of pliers and a rusty nailfile (you think I’m joking) — warming 2 cups of tomato soup whilst holding a wet map whilst driving a 7.5 tonne camper van whilst holding an animated conversation with a truck driver whose rig is ten times bigger that yours at 50 miles an hour, whilst with your spare foot (!!) trying to kick shut the toilet door which someone (!) forgot to shut before you set off and also at the same time reassuring two runners on your mobile that they really shouldn’t have turned onto the M6 on foot and you’re not going to get them out of jail if they do it again ... well you get the drift .... and all of this on a quiet drive through country lanes that would feel cramped if you were doing it on a bike.

Listen ... that’s the short version of how it is .. if you want the longer one .. send a cheque for at least 10 .. that’s equivalent $3,000 for our American friends to Podge c/o ... well you know the rest.

For those who know how it is ... its great to help to do God’s work and humbling to be able to help .. and to you all ........ THANKS.