An amazing adventure of in-car technology and protecting wildlife in Africa!
A team from Paradise Wildlife Park won the 2018 Motor-Vision Awards with their project ‘Drive 4 Wildlife’ along with two other winners, Lucy Rigley with her electric motoring ‘Are we there yet mum’ idea and Tiana Adam, with her ‘MK2 Golf Restoration’. Read more about these projects by clicking here.
Drive 4 Wildlife is a unique conservation initiative created to raise awareness for wildlife conservation and to help bring an end to poaching by funding, fitting out and donating an anti-poaching vehicle to a conservation organisation in Africa.
The Drive 4 Wildlife team consists of Paradise Wildlife Park’s founder, Peter Sampson’s three grandsons; brothers Aaron Whitnall (27), Tyler Whitnall (25) and Cameron Whitnall (23), joined by family friend Redmond Bolton (25). All four work at the Park, have grown up together amongst wildlife and are all passionate about making a difference and publicising the plight of African species.
Since winning the Motor-Vision Awards back in October, you may be wondering what have the team be up to? So here’s an update:
Phase 1: African Mission
As soon as the team found out they were one of our three Motor-Vision Award winners, they instantly sprang into action and started planning the first phase of their project.
Before donating an anti-poaching vehicle, the team ventured out to Africa in February 2019, visiting 4 different countries making donations to important conservation organisations and assessing which one will benefit the most from the anti-poaching vehicle. You can find out more about their trip by clicking here or watching the video above.
Phase 2: Anti-poaching vehicle
Since their mission to Africa, the Drive 4 Wildlife team have been hard at work, raising awareness for wildlife and their project, with a goal of securing £25,000 funding towards their anti-poaching vehicle.
Donations from various individuals and organisations on their Just Giving page have seen them raise nearly £11,000 already but they still need more! If you would like to donate to help fund the anti-poaching vehicle, please click here.
On top of the funds raised via their Just Giving page, Richard Hale School, where the four guys attended, donated £1,000 towards their project.
Recently, the team organised a fund-raising evening, ‘Dine 4 Wildlife’, hosted at Paradise Wildlife Park and the Motor-Vision team were kindly invited. The event proved a massive success and raised thousands of pounds towards the vehicle. The final amount is yet to be confirmed but is expected to be in excess of £12,000!
A massive thank you to Paradise Wildlife Park, The Big Cat Sanctuary and the Drive 4 Wildlife team for hosting such an amazing and well-orchestrated event!
Phase 3: The vehicle
With the funds the team have raised so far, they have put down a deposit on a military spec Land Rover Defender – now on display at Paradise Wildlife Park.
The plan is now to convert this into a bespoke anti-poaching vehicle.
Plans are in place for the required modifications to be made to the 4×4 vehicle and following completion and funding, it will be shipped over to Africa by the end of 2019. The team will then officially deliver the vehicle themselves to their chosen conservation charity in February 2020.
The team still have a lot of hard work and campaigning to do before the anti-poaching vehicle can be delivered. Watch this space and please do get involved!
If you would like to donate to help fund the anti-poaching vehicle, please click here.
Stay up to date with the latest Drive 4 Wildlife news by following them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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