Official Handover- Matt and Nick become famous

Today Nick and myself were officially handed the ambulance by SCAS. We picked up the ambulance for the first time and Nick took it for a spin (he was very nervous), before we met up with local press at Douglas House. It may be worth checking out the following in the near future: The Oxford Mail, The Oxford Journal and BBC Radio Oxford (updates coming soon). As well as a good chance to meet some people staying at Douglas House at the moment, we were also able to meet with Mike of Red Stone Graphics and Neville Wade of SCAS – both who have been very helpful in the last few weeks.

The day was quite informal: both of us chatted to the media, then had our photos taken by various people, including adoring fans (!)

Nick opened up the throttle on the way back and the Douglas Car groaned and rattled its way up to seventy. 10,000 miles in 4 weeks? No problem!

Lastly, it is Douglas House’s 5 year anniversary tomorrow – we wish them well.

Gearing up for Handover...

Mike at Red Stone has been busy getting our ambulance ready for the official handover this Thursday at 11am at Douglas House, Oxford. The logos of our current sponsors are now all on the ambulance, and we hope you agree that it's really taking shape! We have our fingers crossed for a good turnout from Oxford's local media, who will hopefully be keen to print / broadcast some interviews from both ourselves, and members of SCAS and Helen & Douglas House.

In preparation for the event, and explaining the reason for involvement by SCAS, the NHS Trust’s chief executive, William Hancock said:

‘When our vehicles reach the end of their useful life, they are usually disposed of through the used vehicle trade as scrap. Their value is very little and certainly does not reflect potential continuing use. We are delighted to be able to make this vehicle available for the Mongol rally, especially, since it is also a way of supporting a very worthy local Oxford charity.’

As you can see from the picture above, we have left plenty of space for future sponsors. With lots of coverage in the press planned, including an article in The Independent, it makes a great deal of sense getting your logo on the side of our ambulance! If you're interested in collaborating with us, please visit the sponsors page of our website for more details, or get in touch. And let us know if you see anything about us in the papers!

Stay tuned for details of how our handover goes...

Red Stone on board!

Here at Douglas Car HQ, we have been amazed by the generosity and enthusiasm shown by people towards our project.

The most recent person to donate their efforts to The Douglas Car is Mike at Red Stone - a one stop shop for all your illustration, graphics, and image related needs. After a brief phone call with Mike, who was already aware of the great work Helen & Douglas House do, and whose workshop happens to be just round the corner from where our ambulance is, he pledged to donate his services at no profit to himself. We are hugely thankful to him for seeing the potential in our project.

Red Stone are going to design and apply a great custom design to our ambulance, ready for the official handover on the 19th February. Further logos will be added as we (hopefully) gain more team sponsors, helping to raise awareness both for them at our fundraising events, and for Douglas House. If you would like to advertise on our ambulance, please visit the sponsors page on our website.

We were originally a little reluctant to show you the draft design Red Stone have prepared, but heck - we were just too excited about it!