Expedition to Norway raises €25,000 for Pieta House

A dozen men crammed into five Land Rover Defenders, traversing nine countries over 5,760km – it might be madness or the best driving marathon yet.

On March 24, the five vehicles departed Eyre Square on an eighteen-day expedition to Norway, to benefit Pieta House.

The convoy were heading for their destination Bergen, on the west coast of Norway.

The overland expedition crossed nine countries – Wales, England, Holland, Belguim, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and France – before arriving back in Eyre Square on April 10.

The group leader was Seamus Dooley from Craughwell, and he revealed that his crew experienced temperatures as low as minus nine degrees in Norway.

“All participants slept in roof top tents on top of the Land Rovers for the duration of the journey,” he said.

“All meals were prepared at campsites occupied by the team,” he added.

The Land Rover Defenders are owned by the members of the team and the vehicles vary in age from 1993 to 2011.

The vehicles performed flawlessly and returned home with no issues. The average speed recorded for the vehicles was 69km per hour and the drivers spent 80.3 hours behind the wheel.

The group of participants came together from different counties in Ireland and were unfamiliar with each other prior to establishing the group.

The team prepared for the cold weather camping, by spending nights out in the wilderness in their roof tents in the winter months in Ireland,

The participants organised various different fundraisers to achieve the total of €25,000 that will assist Pieta House in their very important work – something Pieta House CEO Brian Higgins is quick to acknowledge.

“It costs approximately €1,000 to bring someone struggling in the shadows through a full suite of sessions with Pieta House so the incredible amount of money raised through the Land Rover Overland Expedition to Norway really means so much to us and to those who come to us for help,” he said.

“The journey may be over for the Land Rover Defenders and their drivers but the journey may only be starting for someone struggling with suicidal ideation or engaging in self-harm and thanks to innovative fundraising like this we can continue to provide our life-saving service to them,” he added.