Media Information and downloads
Please note that all images and video material are free for editorial purposes only.
Press Release: For Immediate Release
Retired businessman plans epic driving adventure across India in a Morgan 3-wheeler
- Alan Braithwaite to drive 3500 miles across India in 21 days in February 2020 in a Morgan three-wheeler.
- Aims to raise £200,000 for Indian aid organisation, Goonj.
- Will feature in a documentary to be released end 2020.
Seventy-three-year old retired businessman Alan Braithwaite plans to drive a Morgan Three-Wheeler 3,500 miles across India, in 21 days, to raise £200,000 for Indian aid organisation Goonj. The “Trans-India Challenge” is scheduled to take place in February to March 2020 and Alan will be co-driven by his wife Pat.
“For us, this is the adventure of a lifetime,” says Alan. “We love India and have historical family connections with the country. The car is very special – we’ve painted it black and yellow in honour of my father who always said he wanted a black and yellow Bristol motor car. His dream never came true, so I’ve painted the Morgan in this striking colour scheme in his memory.”
The custom-built Morgan will be shipped to India at the end of 2019 in plenty of time to start the Challenge in February 2020. Starting from Mumbai, Alan and Pat will head across central India via Hyderabad and travel up the east coast to Kolkata, before heading north to New Delhi and returning to Mumbai via Jaipur and Ahmedabad. Their target is 160 miles per day on challenging Indian roads.
The Challenge supports Goonj, a Delhi-based NGO with a unique ‘circular economy’ model that uses recycled urban discard to boost rural communities. A portion of the money raised will also be used to fund peer-reviewed academic research to examine the benefits of the ‘circular economy’ and social regeneration models established by Goonj.
Adds Alan: “As a logistics and supply chain specialist myself, I am particularly impressed by Goonj and its unique business model of shipping discard from urban centres out to rural communities where it’s recycled and put to good use. As a human, I’m impressed that they eschew charity in favour of empowering communities to help themselves with dignity and respect. It’s a revolution in aid and social regeneration and I want to tell the world about it.”
Along the way, the couple will visit Goonj projects where communities have worked to improve the local environment, sanitation, schools or economies, often using re-cycled textiles or other items discarded by their urban neighbours.
The Trans-India Challenge is scheduled to start in Mumbai at the start of February 2020. Daily reports and videos on the couple’s progress will be posted each day on their social media channels. A documentary about the trip is planned for release in 2020.
– Ends –
For further information, or to arrange an interview with Alan and Pat Braithwaite, contact the Trans-India Challenge media office: Peter Brill, David Campbell, Amanda Campbell – media@transindiachallenge.com or 0117 230 9009
To follow the Trans-India Challenge on social media see:
Facebook: @transindiachallenge
Twitter: @TransIndiaChal
Instagram: @transindiachallenge
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/trans-india-challenge
