Thursday 21st August 2014
The scene outside the Waitrose supermarket,
Station Road, Warminster, on the morning of
Thursday 21st August 2014.
This brand new JCB is being driven from
John O’Groats to Lands End by Esmor Davies.
The route, nearly 2,000 miles
is on A roads, and will take six weeks.
The journey started on 26th July.
Esmor is raising funds
for visually impaired people,
supporting Blind Veterans UK,
and the Guide Dogs Training School
in Forfar, Scotland.
The target is £500,000.
The Waitrose company have donated to
Esmor’s fundraising.
A cheque for the JCB Marathon from Waitrose
for the sum of £346.
Esmor pictured with the cheque.
An illustration on the bucket of the JCB.
Three of Esmor’s helpers with their collecting buckets.
Shoppers going in and out of Waitrose,
Warminster, were very generous.
The Welsh red dragon painted on the JCB.
Esmor said that of all the towns he had stopped at
en route, Royal Wootton Bassett and Warminster
had shown the friendliest response from people.
A dragon on the JCB.
Esmor, aged 68, a Welshman
through and through, lives in Buckley,
Cheshire. He has worked in the building trade
and is no stranger to charity fundraising.
11 years ago Esmor stepped in to help
Ian Hunt, from Buckley, who had been
left paralysed after a motorcycle accident.
Since then, Esmor has made countless trips
to the Balkans transporting equipment
to help war orphans. He helped rebuild
an orphanage, and travelled to Sri Lanka
to help tsunami victims rebuild their communities.
Part of the proceeds from the JCB Marathon
will go towards the provision of a sensory
garden for the blind in Llandudno.
£50,000 is needed to fund the garden project.
Decked with bunting, the JCB caused
quite stir outside Waitrose in Warminster.
Esmor said he couldn’t thank enough
Waitrose for all their help, and that he
was truly grateful for everyone who had
assisted or donated to the fundraising.
The registration of the JCB which is making
the trip. It has a top speed of 27 mph.
Warminster resident Debbie Martin
and her two sons Archie and Finn
stopped on the way into Waitrose
to see and hear about the JCB Marathon.
Archie, aged 7, and Finn, aged 2,
like lots of other young children,
were granted the chance to explore
the cab of the JCB.
Mum Debbie takes a photo of the boys.
The route Esmor is taking and what’s happening
along the way can be followed on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/esmorsmarathon
Archie and Finn put their donation
to the charity fundraising
into one of the collection buckets.
Warminster resident Angela Adam
was happy to make a donation.
All smiles!
The sign on the rear of the JCB.
Contact telephone number
07877 292394.
You can donate online via Just Giving.
To see the JCB Marathon donations page
click here.
You can also find out more about
the JCB marathon
from its own dedicated website. Click here.
Photographs taken by Danny Howell.