Bjørn, who in the name of full disclosure works at Rare, a game developer owned by Microsoft, sent me the following mail, which I hope you take the time to read through.
Now since Bjørn and his team are bound to end up walking to Rome (read through), at least make it worth their while by helping them out either economically or by dropping a quick link to this entry whereever you can; I’ll owe you.
Three friends and myself are participating in Home2Rome event at the end of October. The basic idea is that you have to drive a car, valued less than £100, from Calais to Rome while completing various stage events. The winner takes home £1000, everyone else takes home 4 days of good, polluting family entertainment.
As well as having a good laugh, we are also collecting money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society . Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most common neurological disease in the western world – in the UK alone 85000 people carry MS. It affects people’s muscle control, vision, memory and thinking, mood, bladder control, and constitution. It never goes away, and while various treatments and holistic approaches can alleviate the symptoms, it cannot as yet be cured or made easily liveable.
But there is hope: Researchers understanding of MS is improving rapidly. Just yesterday Danish researchers announced a major breakthrough in our understanding of why certain genes, normally used as part of our immune system, instead start breaking down myelin, thereby causing MS.
What the 2.5 million people who suffer from MS need is research funding. Unlike other “celebrity” diseases, there is still a stigma attached to MS; patients suffer quietly, in their homes, finding in almost impossible to separate between their symptoms and their reaction to these symptoms. MS is not a disease that attracts funding easily, but you can help and truly make a difference.
To support our charity drive, and wish us a happy Home2Rome event, please visit our fundraising page.
You can securely donate any amount you like by debit or credit card.
But it doesn’t end there: Microsoft has generously agreed to double up on any donations you make. If you donate £5, Microsoft donates £5. If you donate £10, Microsoft donates £10. On our fund-raising page you can see how much we’ve collected already; the final amount will be doubled by Microsoft! Should we win the event we will additionally add all the prize money to our charity pool.
Thank you for considering to donate! Onwards to Rome!
Also, if you see an old Mercedes 190 on the side of the road in late October, please stop because we might need a lift…
Best regards,
Bjørn
Seems like a fantastic project for a worthy cause. I managed to donate, but the page was very slow on my end… but with patience you’ll manage.
I believe Bjørn’s team is the Flamin’ Pinatas – can we see a picture of the wreck, please?
Best of luck!
Mike, thanks a lot for the mention. With GiftAid (the UK scheme for making tax free donations) and the Microsoft double up, we’re up to £1000 already (US$ 1800). My God, that’s awesome!
Jens, El Burro (the car) is still getting tuned up. My company, Rare Ltd., has graciously agreed to cover the paint job on the car, so it’ll look friggin’ awesome when we’re done. We’re going for a Rare/Viva Pinata feel to help pimp our newest addition to Rare’s family. Seriously, the game is awesomo, so it seemed like the natural choice!
And then, neither you nor anyone else, will be able to avoid seeing the “wreck”.
My God man, you HAVE to post photos of that damn thing to your flickr account. It’ll be awesome :D (before and after!)
Sounds like an awesome event. I kind of irks me that they can find a working car for under 100, when I can’t find one at all. Oh well.
A little off-topic, but whats the timetable for the return of the K2 forums? It’s been a few fortnights since they went down.
That is freakin’ awesome Bjorn, well done! Definitely for a worthy cause and I bet you guys are going to have an awesome time!
Seriously though man, this is begging for some hardcore Gonzo Journalism coverage!
Keep safe and best of luck!
Mike
p.s. Nathan: “A little off-topic”? Dear God man, talking about K2 whatever in a post like this? Have you no shame?
Great cause, my mum has MS, she’s donated some money. Good luck to Bjorn and the gang :)