# Mowerthon - One Man went to Mow followed by two VW Campers

If the thought of mowing the lawn at the weekend leaves you a bit cold, imagine riding a lawn mower 2,000 km or 1,250 miles from Bergerac in France to John O' Groats in Scotland...

This is exactly what ex Greenkeeper, Phil Voice is currently doing right NOW. Phil has taken on this 'Mowerthon' to raise money for Perennial - the national trade charity which provides free, confidential advice and support to everyone working in, or retired from working in, horticulture, and their families, including gardeners, landscapers, nursery and garden centre staff, parks and grounds care staff and tree surgeons.  Currently, Phil is currently on his way to Caen "I'm always thinking of ways to help, and sitting at my desk one day I thought about walking from Lands' End to John O'Groats to raise money for charity, but this had already been done," commented Phil. "I then had a brainwave. Why not do it on a mower? Better still, why not do it from my home in France? After an email to Les Malin at Etesia which he forwarded to Patrick Vives, Etesia's President, they offered a machine with their full support.

Phil is a friend of Mike and Fiona of CampinaVDub and the two of them and two of their CampinaVDub fleet will be assisting Phil and his shiny green lawn mower as soon as he rides off the ferry at Portsmouth on Saturday morning.  The VDubs will shadow Phil on his epic journey and provide support and a bed each day.

Etesia, the manufacturer of Phil's mower are delighted to sponsor this fundraising activity by providing the machine and a support crew and in addition their strong dealer network are looking forward to supporting Phil along his journey.

“We were introduced to the Landscape Juice Network three or four years ago and have found it to be an extremely good way of speaking directly to our end users”, said Les Malin, Etesia UK General Manager. “When Phil approached us with an idea that he wanted to ride a mower from France to John O’Groats, our initial thought was that he was mad.

When he explained to us why he was planning this event, to support and help the industry he's worked in all his life, then we were only too happy to support Phil with his journey. We look forward to meeting him at John O’Groats”.

You can follow Phil's progress here in real time and on Twitter #Mowerthon and keep an eye out for two campervans and a shiny green mower!