Pitting their wits against 10,000 miles of desert and five mountain ranges in a car with only a 1.2 litre engine, two Merseyside locals are joining the world-famous Mongol Rally to raise over £50,000 for charity.

David Wiles, 48, and James Mather, 57, are rising to the challenge and setting off on an adventure of a lifetime with only their camaraderie and self-taught mechanical skills to get them across a third of the earth's surface to the finish in Mongolia. Both Wirral businessmen, the pair decided to give up their day jobs for six weeks to support Wirral Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) which provides support and resources to local charities, over three hundred in the last twelve months.

Personally affected by the work of Wirral CVS, David and James will be racing against hundreds of contestants from the UK, Italy and France on a trip which the organisers call the 'Un-route' as there are no restrictions, guidance or back-up support teams.

Their destination is the city of Ulaan Bataar, the capital of Mongolia, a country nestled between Russia and China, and there will be a final launch in Prague at the end of July, with other teams, before the six-week drive into the wild begins.

David explains: "We are really throwing caution to the wind in this mad cap adventure - and we hope people in Merseyside will rise to the challenge with us by digging deep for local charities that do amazing work in our communities".

It will test every limit of the friends, David, a local business owner and mentor at John Moores University, Liverpool, and James, a partner in Berkson Wallace, a Birkenhead solicitors.

James continues: "This is going to be the toughest challenge I've done - if we make it to the other side in our mighty steed! We'll need every bit of humour and perseverance we can muster as well as support from local businesses and personal sponsors to help us reach our target of £50,000 for local charities. I'm just hoping the car will hold enough spare parts!"

Their car will be a second-hand 1.2L Renault, specially donated by Renault Wirral garage, who saw the opportunity to support the two racers in aid of their local charities. Wirral CVS supports any and every charity in Wirral with development advice, funding and volunteering opportunities. It recently prevented four charities from closing down, including a community centre, arts and culture club and an organisation that helps local people find employment.

This will be the first of many annual fundraising events entitled The Wirral Challenge to raise money for Wirral CVS.

Contact: Jane Leffman, Fundraiser

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