2021 Jeep Challenge

 

 Jolly Jeep

The Willys Jeep is a long way from the vehicles we know today.

For a start it does not have a heating system and is over 70 years old – there is no need to have doors or windows.

The J.E.E.P is well known to have Just Enough Essential Parts – so how far can that take me?

There are many future challenges this Jeep is going to be used for but the first part of the challenge is to rebuild it!

The Challenge

It is time to thank the NHS and the staff for I have always said ‘they are the real heroes’. Throughout my treatment and the follow up appointments I had since my bone marrow transplant the system has not let me down.

In my challenges I often choose to rebuild old vehicles – giving them a new lease of life – to inspire others to achieve their own goals. I used a boat as my goal to get through my treatment – building it up bit by bit which I found to be a fantastic escape from reality and a great goal to focus on. In many ways I feel this renovation is comparable to what the NHS has done for me and so many others – when a machine has a fault I diagnose the cause, then I go to the stores to locate a new part to get the machine to run again. The doctors diagnosed me and went to the Anthony Nolan Trust to find my donor. This is where I was fitted with my new immune system so I was back up and running – just like the machine.

The Jolly Jeep Challenge is to rebuild a Willys Jeep and giving others the opportunity to get involved in  the restoration and the challenge. When the Jeep is finished myself and the people that have helped restore it will come along to the bone marrow transplant hospitals across the country to thank the staff for everything they do. The campaign is to raise funds an awareness  for Bloodwise, the Anthony Nolan Trust and the hospitals charitable trusted related to cancer services and more importantly recruit new potential life saving donor to the register!

Over the course of the summer 2018 fellow survivors and I will drive the Jeep to the bone marrow transplant hospitals, where on arrival we will invite the nurses, doctors and other staff to pop down and grab a chocolate of thanks.

The UK’s transplant hospitals are:

  1. Addenbrooke’s Hospital

  2. Bristol Royal Hospital for Children

  3. Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust

  4. Bristol Royal Infirmary

  5. Christie Hospital NHS Trust

  6. Churchill Hospital – Oxford

  7. Derriford Hospital

  8. Great Ormond Street Hospital

  9. Hammersmith Hospital

  10. Heartlands Hospitals

  11. King’s College Hospital

  12. Leeds General Infirmary

  13. Leicester Royal Infirmary

  14. Manchester Royal Infirmary

  15. Nottingham City Hospital

  16. Queen Elizabeth Hospital – Birmingham

  17. Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Glasgow (HSCTS)

  18. Royal Hallamshire Hospital

  19. Royal Hospital For Children – Glasgow

  20. Royal Liverpool University Hospital

  21. Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital

  22. Sheffield Children’s Hospital

  23. Southampton General Hospital

  24. St. Bartholomew’s Hospital

  25. St. George’s Hospital

  26. St. James’s University Hospital

  27. The Freeman Hospital

  28. The Royal Free Hospital

  29. The Royal Marsden Hospital Adults

  30. The Royal Marsden Hospital Paediatrics

  31. University College Hospital

  32. University Hospital of Wales

  33. Great North Children’s Hospital – Ward 14

  34. Great North Children’s Hospital – Ward 3

I use Oliver’s Travels to raise awareness and funds for the charities that helped me survive during & after my diagnosis. I have recruited many new potential donors to the Anthony Nolan Trust Register since 2011. One of these people became a match for someone in need of a stem cell transplant.