The Drivinghome Expedition has
made it to Cape Town! 17/04/2006
Some
40,000 paraplegics and quadriplegics in the UK - and the numbers
swell by 3 every day - are confined to a wheelchair for life -
and many, understandably, succumb to feelings of helplessness
and hopelessness.
Colin
Javens, paralysed from shoulders down in an accident in 2000,
used a tiny movement in one wrist to drive again and to launch
"Driving Home": an inspirational fund-raising journey,
with him at the wheel, from Stoke Mandeville Hospital to Cape
Town.
It
also inspired him to form his registered charity, The Colin Javens
Spinal Injury Trust - to raise funds for research into cures for
spinal cord damage and for organisations involved in the rehabilitation
and welfare of those paralysed by spinal injury. The Trust is
also registered as a Charity in Jersey, due to the Patrons and
Trustees' connections there. One of the Patrons of the project,
David Croisdale-Appleby, says (read
more>>)
And
it inspired the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust to the honour
of electing him a Fellow and putting its full support, financially
and morally, behind his expedition. (read
more>> )
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Major
Beneficiaries
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A
new Centre of Excellence for the National Spinal
Injuries Unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital
www.spinal.org.uk
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Spinal
Research
One of the leading international charities in the field
of spinal cord injury research
www.spinal-research.org
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Other
Beneficiaries
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The
Player's Fund in Cape Town - led by South African
rugby icon, Morne du Plessis, to assist rugby players
with spinal injuries www.playersfund.org.za
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Motivation
- a charity working to enhance the lives of people with
mobility disabilities.
www.motivation.org.uk
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Colin's
message:
"Whilst I received fantastic help and treatment at Stoke
Mandeville, I now see how medical advances and research into
spinal injury are held back so much owing to very limited funding.
And
that is despite very promising potential research breakthroughs.
For example the charity Spinal Research has a programme aiming
at clinical trials on humans and possibly to a spinal injury
repair centre.
So
by using my disability I am "Driving
Home" a message to improve the public's awareness
of spinal injury and also to raise enough money to make meaningful
contributions to well researched and promising initiatives.
My aim - to restore hope to people in the same situation as
me."
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