Charity
FOLLOW THAT FIRE ENGINE is an awe inspiring expedition that has never been attempted before. A crew of friends plan to achieve Guinness World Record status by circumnavigating the globe....in a fire engine! The goal of FOLLOW THAT FIRE ENGINE is to raise money and awareness for three charities; Macmillan Cancer Support, The Fire Fighters Charity and Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. 100% of the money raised will go to charity. The expedition is entirely self funded by the crew.
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Follow That Fire Engine - Sweat Team
Welcome to Follow That Fire Engine - Sweat Team.
From all the sweat team thank you so much for taking the time and effort to sponsor us in our goal of raising as much money as possible for www.followthatfireengine.com
After dominating 4 Marathons and the Lanazarote Ironman the next event is:
ENGLISH CHANNEL SWIM
Athlete: David Orders
Approx Swim Date = 5th July 2010
The concept again is simple. Walk off the beach on the south coast of England near Dover and keep swimming until you feel the rocks and sand of northern France. When you’re able to stand up you’re done.
Point to point the distance between Dover and cap Gris-Nez (the ideal landing spot in France) is 21 miles. However the tides are strong as the Atlantic funnels into the North Sea and then back again with the cycle of the moon. As a result swimmers generally track between 28 and 35 miles.
The rules of engagement are quite strict as the governing bodies want to keep the challenge the same since Captain Matthew Webb first completed the feat in 1875. To be an official channel swimmer you can only have a pair of speedos, a hat and goggles. You coat yourself in goose fat (or modern day equivalent) just prior to starting the challenge to try to maintain some body heat for as long as possible.
In terms of time, as a guide, the quickest crossings happen in about 7 hours. The slowest in 27 hours.
In terms of difficulty I like to relate it to Everest. Quote from the channel swim database website is below:
811 individuals have swum the channel, completing 1185 crossings. For reference, by 2004 Everest summit had been climbed 2049 times according to http://www.everesthistory.com/everestsummits/summitsbyyear.htm or nearly 2x as often. In 2005 – a cracking year – there were 79 crossings of the channel whilst in 2004 there were 330 climbs to the summit of Everest
I’ll be aiming for a time in the region of 12 hours. This will be massively dependent on the conditions which is what makes the channel so difficult. The water temperature in early July (when I’m doing the challenge) should be in the region of 15 C. So if dealing with the very busy shipping lanes, the often choppy conditions and the jellyfish (and other wildlife!) isn’t enough I’m likely to be hypothermic in the second half of the challenge (when the goose fat has worn off). Can we all please have a little prayer to Neptune in July to be kind to me!
I’m currently in training. Fingers crossed!
Who are the Sweat Teams?
Inspired by this daunting endurance challenge many of the crews’ friends have decided to take on their own test of stamina with the aim of raising further funds for the official FOLLOW THAT FIRE ENGINE charities. The Sweat Teams are:
English Channel Swim: Dave Orders
Lanzarote Ironman: Paul Barham, Dave Orders, Ross Shepley-Smith and Thomas Wicka
Barcelona Marathon: George Troughton, Matt Poderoso(Seve) and Simon Lowans
Engadin Ski Marathon: Paul O’Sullivan and Debs Grant
Brighton Marathon: James Adams
London Marathon: James Dare, David Stewart and Matt Weston
What is FOLLOW THAT FIRE ENGINE?
FOLLOW THAT FIRE ENGINE is dedicated to the memory of Garth Moore, who passed away last year at the age of 63, after a brave battle with lung cancer. Garth was a Fire Fighter and dedicated his life to fighting fires and saving the lives of others over the course of his 33 years in service.
This charity has been set up by his son Steve who is leading an expedition to attempt a Guinness World Record by circumnavigating the globe in a fire engine! Read all about it on http://www.followthatfireengine.com
The expedition is entirely self-funded which means 100% of money raised will go straight to our chosen charities: Macmillan Cancer Support, The Fire Fighters Charity and The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation.
Recent donors
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Richard Sealy £50.00 (+ £14.10 giftaid) 07.11.10 Dave - congrats on the swim (sorry - bit late sending this through) - awesome achievement |
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Anonymous £150.00 (+ £42.31 giftaid) 05.09.10 Amazing achievement Dave! |
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Ben James £30.00 (+ £8.46 giftaid) 10.08.10 Well done Wicka, better late than never... |
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Kathryn C £500.00 (+ £141.03 giftaid) 29.07.10 As promised - for getting across in under 12 hours (that'll teach me :) ) Good luck for your next adventure. |
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Ed White (Alec's BM) £20.00 (+ £5.64 giftaid) 27.07.10 I understand they have ferries across the Channel with comfy seats and bars, but superb effort in doing it the hard way. |
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Anonymous £25.00 (+ £7.05 giftaid) 26.07.10 Congrads...awesome time ....what's next? I suggest Cuba to Florida http://www.secondact.com/2010/07/at-60-years-of-age/ Yash |
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Anonymous £50.00 (+ £14.10 giftaid) 13.07.10 Well done mate - Rich |
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Anonymous £20.00 (+ £5.64 giftaid) 12.07.10 Well done Dave. Great job. |
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Rupert Graham £50.00 (+ £14.10 giftaid) 12.07.10 Congrats Dave!! A really amazing effort!! Go home and rest! |
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Mark Riggall £500.00 (+ £141.03 giftaid) 12.07.10 Mate, fantastic job, surprised to see you in the office today, thought you'd be taking a well deserved day off!! |
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nd £250.00 (+ £70.51 giftaid) 12.07.10 never a doubt |
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Shirley Bourn £10.00 11.07.10 Well done Dave! |
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Rob Coles £100.00 (+ £28.21 giftaid) 09.07.10 Fantastic achievement. |
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Anonymous £100.00 (+ £28.21 giftaid) 09.07.10 |
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Jacko, Mel, Will and Ollie £50.00 (+ £14.10 giftaid) 09.07.10 Two hours in and it looks like you are doing well, Great Stuff mate |
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June and Den £20.00 (+ £5.64 giftaid) 08.07.10 Well done Dave, on the Ironman and good luck for the BIG swim ! |
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Auntie Jeanette £20.00 08.07.10 Well Done it must be in the genes! Good Luck on your trip |
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Sylvia & Graham £10.00 (+ £2.82 giftaid) 08.07.10 Great effort on the Ironman! |
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Anonymous £100.00 08.07.10 amazing |
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John O'Dowd £100.00 08.07.10 Good luck! |
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Anonymous £20.00 08.07.10 |
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Yi £150.00 (+ £42.31 giftaid) 08.07.10 wonderful cause and efford |
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Charles £20.00 (+ £5.64 giftaid) 06.07.10 Go for it |
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Steve Carrington £20.00 (+ £5.64 giftaid) 05.07.10 Hero! |
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Graeme & Sarah £50.00 (+ £14.10 giftaid) 05.07.10 Well done on your achievements so far and good luck for the big swim. . . . .we still think you're crazy but it's for a great cause. Love The Egan family |
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Tory Maurice £20.00 (+ £5.64 giftaid) 05.07.10 When you told me about this at Alec's wedding I thought you were joking! Amazing effort - GOOD LUCK - will be thinking of you!!! |
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Trevor £450.00 (+ £126.92 giftaid) 02.07.10 Good luck |
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Steve and Thamara £50.00 (+ £14.10 giftaid) 02.07.10 Good luck with the cold. Go Welshboy! |
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Mike & Emma £40.00 (+ £11.28 giftaid) 02.07.10 Good luck Dave! |
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Priscilla Chow £50.00 (+ £14.10 giftaid) 01.07.10 Good Luck!!! |
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Pam Vythelingum £50.00 (+ £14.10 giftaid) 30.06.10 Go Dave!!! I read your blog earlier... hadn't realised the Turkey swims were quite as tough as that!!! Good luck with it all mate, I hope the weather and conditions are perfect for you... and I've mentioned that to Neptune ;-) |
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Will B £100.00 (+ £28.21 giftaid) 29.06.10 You're a MAD -- Best of luck! |
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ChrissyH £20.00 (+ £5.64 giftaid) 29.06.10 Powerful stuff. Excellent work guys. Orders - you are the king nutter! |
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Massimo Lonardi £100.00 (+ £28.21 giftaid) 29.06.10 Dave "Techno" Orders, when you get to the other side, pls buy some good French cheese for me... Good luck man, it's going to be hard but great! |
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Rae, Paul & Thomas Gough £50.00 (+ £14.10 giftaid) 28.06.10 Dave - wishing you all the best of luck for your upcoming dip in the pond :) We can't wait to hear how you get on & look forward to the updates on your progress throughout the swim. Good luck!! See you poolside soon. Love Rae, Paul & Thomas. xx |
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Bhavana & Pete £100.00 28.06.10 All the best! Pete says - 'be sure to bring your passport for the French border control' |
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Pat & Lynn £100.00 (+ £28.21 giftaid) 27.06.10 Well done Dave in the Lanzarote marathon but there are a few more pain barriers to overcome in the Channel swim. Best of luck son. Mum & Dad. |
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Claire, David, Stephen and Rachel £30.00 (+ £8.46 giftaid) 27.06.10 Good Luck Dave! Hope it's not too cold!! |
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Bilyana £50.00 (+ £14.10 giftaid) 25.06.10 Dave, good luck, I'm sure you'll do brilliantly!!! |
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Harjit Johal £20.00 (+ £5.64 giftaid) 24.06.10 Dave - I took you for a geek who spent weekend building PCs. Seriously, good luck for the swim and try not to swallow too much sewage on the way! |
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Simon Holden £50.00 (+ £14.10 giftaid) 24.06.10 Dave - truly amazing. You know I love my endurance sport but this is one thing that I wimp out of. RESPECT. |
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Maria £20.00 23.06.10 Good Luck!!! |
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Kathryn Cant £500.00 (+ £141.03 giftaid) 23.06.10 I take my hat off to you Sir! What a fantastic effort and amazing dedication to such worthy causes. |
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Owen, Caroline and Millie Gibbons £50.00 23.06.10 Totally awesome stuff - GO ORDERS!!! |
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Jo £200.00 23.06.10 Freaking mad ... Good luck!!! |
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Anonymous £50.00 (+ £14.10 giftaid) 22.06.10 A record breaking time is expected, or don't bother coming into the office... |
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Daniel Brown £500.00 (+ £141.03 giftaid) 22.06.10 Way too cold a challenge for me... |
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Graham Ward £20.00 (+ £5.64 giftaid) 21.06.10 Nice one Dave good luck and watch out for jellyfish! |
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Anonymous £50.00 (+ £14.10 giftaid) 21.06.10 Good luck with the swim. A worthy cause. |
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Marcus £100.00 (+ £28.21 giftaid) 21.06.10 You're really going to swim the channel while towing a fire engine? Amazing! |
