We are Tom and Kelly, mid 20 year olds from North-East England who love everything outdoorsy. MS effects us because Kelly's Mum, Jo, has suffered with debilitating effects of MS for a number of years. We first came up with the concept of "Phoenix Overland" in March 2017 after the purchase of "Landie", Tom's 1966 Landrover Series 2a. The vehicle is steeped in UK history, having spent a lot of it's
time around Durham's steam railway, Tanfield. Coincidently, Tom regularly volunteers at Tanfield as a driver and has volunteered there since he was a child. The Land Rover had stood unused in a railway van body for 21 years, being taken off the road in 1996, and Tom purchased it after being unable to resist the temptation of restoring it to its former glory. Phoenix Overland is all about taking a vehicle which once worked, restoring it, getting it mobile again and then touring the UK with it in September 2018! The concept being related to that person living with MS getting to grips with their diagnosis and getting mobile again. Our Landie is no racing car, topping 55mph with a tail wind, but it is mobile nonetheless! MS, similarly, may slow you down but it doesn't have to stop you entirely. We want to take our Land Rover on the classic run from John O'Groats to Lands End, but with a bit more travelling in for good measure (primiarly because we start at our home in Newcastle). Our journey will made off no more than 200 mile a day drives, touring the UK covering North, West, South and East coast (in that order) and visiting points of personal interest. We mutually love history and so we've built our stopovers around these interests. We plan on building up as much awareness and support for the MS Society on the run up to our journey, and we hope that with the help from our supporters we aid the journey toward the next research breakthrough for the MS Society.
