"Trudy" looking to go the distance by touring Britain for the MNDA this weekend

Steph Chamberlain from Quainton is taking on the Round Britain Reliability Run this weekend - a 2000 mile nonstop road trip around Britain in her classic car called "Trudy".

"I'm entering my 1976 Triumph Dolomite 300 into the Round Britain Reliability Round this weekend, we're taking part along with 150 other Triumph cars to put our classic cars through their paces and test their reliability. But most importantly, to raise funds for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

I'll be doing it with my dad and my brother. They've been working on the car, called Trudy Triumph, since May, preparing her  for this weekend.  We'll be taking it in turn to drive, sleep and navigate.

We're setting off from Knebworth at 06:00 this Friday coming and we'll be heading straight up to Scotland, hitting the Highland roads overnight to reach John O’Groats for sunrise on Saturday morning. From there we'll have a quick bit of breakfast and then we'll be heading south to take on our Welsh leg of the trip, reaching the Brecon Beacons on our second night. From there, we'll continue down through Devon on to Cornwall. We’ll reach Lands End for breakfast on Sunday morning before heading straight back up through Cornwall and Devon to finish at 6 on Sunday night."

Steph told us more about the history of the event:

"Well, they've been doing it for a number of years,  it's the 27th reliability run, and over that time they've raised more than £700,000 for charities in the UK. So this year we're hoping to raise £65,000 for Motor Neuron Disease Association. We're about three quarters away there, so if anyone would like to pledge their support, I'll be very much appreciated. I know from our drivers briefing, the MNDA Association have given us some really great ideas about what they're going to be doing with the donations and it really does mean a lot to the charity."

She told us how the money raised could be used by MNDA:

"For every £500 we raised, someone who is no longer able to speak is able to communicate with their loved ones using technology that they've created.

It definitely is the motivation as we push on that last kind of from Lands End to home , we’ll have been driving for 40 hours by that point. And I know that these donations will be the thing that will motivate us to just push on to the end."

But where does her love of classic cars come from:

"All my family actually have Triumphs! So it kind of just runs in my blood. I guess we're all classic car nuts."

And how is Trudy looking in terms of the weekend? Is she fit and ready?

"As up as ready as she can be. And we've been working on her since May. So we've packed all our spares, we've got all our stickers on. We've packed a fair few snacks to have along the way as well. So I think we're as good as can be in terms of ready. And we just need to get those last few donations in!"

TO DONATE TO STEPH'S EPIC CHALLNGE, VISIT https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/roundbritainrealiabilityrun2021?utm_source=whatsapp&utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=roundbritainrealiabilityrun2021&utm_campaign=pfp-whatsapp&utm_term=3ac575ca5f56442195934f58b3965ad9&fbclid=IwAR3nqETFnh9eBaZIfKIEjzogLd5xtpWjiCE_qMwofofLaFy5vYxug0GEMhk