These brave adventurers are driving a fire engine to Gambia to help orphanages

Adam Yates and Teddy Seymour Picture: Habibur Rahman

Teddy Seymour and Adam Yates, from Portsmouth, will be driving a fire engine to Gambia, raising money for two orphanages in a village.

The fire engine itself will also be given to the residents, as a replacement for the pickup truck that is currently used for fire emergencies.

Teddy says that the trip will be done through the Dakar Challenge – and that the pair can’t wait to get cracking.

He said: ‘We’re both keen adventurers and have always looked at the Dakar Challenge as something we’ve been interested in taking on to try and make a difference to people less fortunate than ourselves.

‘Adam went to Gambia a while back and saw that their fire engine was nothing more than an old pickup truck with a bucket on it.

‘Usually people take on the Dakar Challenge with old 4x4s and other old bangers, which are auctioned off for charity at the end – but we decided to cut out the middle man and just donate the fire engine to the town.’

But it won’t just be the fire engine that is donated to the Gambian residents.

The fire engine itself will be filled with clothes, toys, blankets and much more, which will also be donated by Teddy and Adam.

Teddy said: ‘It was one of those things where it seemed daft to donate a fire truck that was completely empty, when we can fill it with things that these people will need for their day-to-day lives.

‘We want to fill the fire engine as much as we can.

‘You don’t always see exactly what your charity donation goes towards, or how it benefits people – this is something where you can see exactly what your donation does for people, which we’re very excited about.’

The pair are looking to raise money for the two orphanages, as well as to help fund the Dakar Challenge itself.

‘In total we need about £10,000 to make it all happen,’ said Teddy.

‘We will be heading out there as soon as we have the financial support behind us – we’re looking forward to making this happen.

To donate to Teddy and Adam go to justgiving.com/crowdfunding/atadventures