Completing the 2023 Challenge of reaching Panama narrowly missed, while target 2023 fundraise for CALM doubled
Father and son team, Phil and Will Churchill, along with their high mileage, high adventure Aston Martin Vantage have narrowly missed out on their Vantage World Tour target for 2023 of reaching Panama City.
As the latest leg of their challenge to drive around the world, at the end of October they returned to the car, which had been stored in Cancun, Mexico, since Easter. Negotiating a route through Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, they were thwarted by the closing of the border into Panama, a reaction by the authorities to the road blocks and civil unrest in the country.
Phil Churchill commented: ‘We had a terrific time driving through Central America, and while we are a little disappointed not to reach our intended target for this year, we have still driven a third of the way around the world this year and are immensely proud of what we have achieved.’
Along with fabulous scenery along the road trip, and positivity from everyone they met, challenges overcome included a heavy landing after hitting an unmarked speed bump at pace in Belize, dodging the road blocks which had blighted Guatemala just a week before the duo flew back into Cancun, torrential rain during their descent from the mountains into the capital of Honduras, a tense border crossing into Nicaragua which took 4 hours to secure, and having to change their plans and leave the car in Costa Rica.
Returning to the UK on the eve of Will Churchill’s 18th birthday, he commented: ‘We will be back in 2024 to try for Panama again, and then ship the car to Colombia to take on South America. The amazing reactions from the people we met along the way kept us going, as well as the support of those following us on social media.’
Their 2005 V8 Vantage suffered some damage along the way, including a truck and trailer backing into the front of the car at a chaotic border crossing, but performed faultlessly, despite it having now covered more than 130,000 miles.
The Vantage World Tour team are motivated by their desire to raise as much money as possible for the charity Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), which fights suicide, the largest killer of men under 50 in the UK. They have doubled their original 2023 target fundraise from £7500 to £15,000. Close to £13,500 has already been secured for CALM, including donations from sponsors 90 North, Phoenix Bespoke Keys, Hiffman National, Ice Miller, NAI Hiffman, Trowers and Hamlins.
Having driven more than 8000 road miles, across eight countries in the 8 months since the end of February, Phil and Will are asking for readers to consider making an £8 donation to CALM, through the fundraising link
www. justgiving.com/vantageworldtour. £8 To Save a Life: Each week 125 people die in the UK due to suicide. £8 will fund a potentially life-saving call to CALM, with their services even more in demand at the moment.
To read more see
https://www.vantageworldtour.com/