29 November 2013

Charity champions make it to Mongolia with help from Jubilee® Clips

Charity champions make it to Mongolia with help from Jubilee® Clips

Leading automotive industry supplier Jubilee® Clips did its bit to help a band of intrepid adventurers who went to great lengths to raise thousands of pounds for charity.

The Gillingham-based manufacturer sponsored the team – which included one of its own employees – for an epic, 9,000-mile fund-raising trek to Mongolia, completed in a second-hand LDV Convoy van.

The journey was part of the Mongolia Charity Rally, organised by international aid group GoHelp. The rules of the rally are simple – teams drive from Central London to Central Asia, by a route of their own choosing, with no support, using vehicles which are donated to the charity when they arrive at the finish line.

Charlie Nicholls, an electrician with Jubilee® Clips, his brother Paul Nicholls and their friend Tom Cardale undertook the challenge to support GoHelp’s wide range of initiatives in Mongolia, including the Book House Project, an informal education centre aimed at children who have no access to proper schools.

Charlie, who lives on the Isle of Grain, in Kent, says: “We’d all done smaller charity events before but fancied taking on something a bit more challenging. The Mongolia Rally seemed to fit the bill perfectly.

“We raised the money to buy the van and then spent some time preparing it for the journey, including giving it a full service and kitting it out with a new set of Jubilee® Clips – needless to say they performed faultlessly throughout the trip.

“We also secured more than £2,000 in cash sponsorship from backers large and small,” he continues. “Then all we had to do was plan the route and start driving!”

The journey took the team, who named themselves ‘The Bearded Dragons’, six weeks. Their route included driving on unsurfaced roads and occasionally on no roads at all, crossing rivers, deserts and mountain ranges and surviving the odd misunderstanding with local police forces – but eventually they arrived safely in the Mongol capital of Ulaanbaatar with their trusty van in one piece and still running.

“It was an amazing journey and a truly life-changing experience, although not one I’d be in a hurry to repeat,” laughs Charlie. “It was certainly stressful at times and once or twice we seriously doubted whether we’d make it, but the sense of elation when we arrived at the finish and the knowledge that we’d made a real contribution to improving the lives of the local people meant it was all worthwhile.”

Ian Jennings, Jubilee Clips’ Joint Managing Director, adds: “We’re very proud of Charlie and the rest of the team. Completing this journey was a fantastic achievement and we were delighted to be able to offer our support.”

Jubilee Clips’ parent company L Robinson & Co was founded by Commander Lumley Robinson RN – Ian Jennings’ great-grandfather – who took out the patent on his original worm drive hose clip in 1921; it is now widely acknowledged as a design classic.

Quality of design and manufacture, and of service in terms of stock availability and the general, ‘can do’ helpfulness of its staff, are the key attributes on which Jubilee Clips has built its reputation. As well as standard Jubilee worm drive clips, the company offers High Torque, Wingspade and Multiband variants, 2-Ear ‘O’ clips, Juniors (nut & bolt clamps) and Superclamps (heavy duty bolt clamps), with half of its annual production being exported to overseas markets.