Pioneers in bid to raise £5,000 for Headway

A pair of pioneers are travelling 1,000 miles, over the Pyrenees, on classic scooters in a bid to raise £5,000 for a good cause.

Greg Layzell, 55, the Rotary Club of Otter Valley’s president, and 48-year-old Paul Swingler plan to rev up their 125cc scooters for an epic journey from Ottery to Barcelona.

The duo will set out on a six-day trip, on scooters almost as old as they are, on September 2, in aid of the charity Headway.

The money will go towards helping people in Devon who have suffered a brain injury and require help.

The duo will start off in Ottery before riding their scooters through places such as Roscoff, St-Nazaire, La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Toulouse and Font-Romeu until they reach the Spanish capital on September 8.

Any other keen scooterists itching to don their helmets and go on an adventure to raise money for the cause have also been invited to join the riders for either the whole or part of the journey.

Greg and Paul will be staying in camp sites and hoping to drive for around six hours a day, covering an average of about 150 miles at a time.

The pair’s journey would be like driving from Ottery to Sidmouth 156 times.

Greg said they were trying to come up with a fundraising idea when his scooter was mentioned, allowing it all to develop from there.

He added: “I have never done anything like this before. It should be good; we are hoping the scooters will last all the way.

“It would be fantastic if we could reach our target and do some real good to help Headway.”

Greg said he would like to thank their main sponsor, John Capon, the managing director of Otter Windows, for supporting the cause.

Anyone wanting to help Greg and Paul reach their target can visit the rotary club’s Facebook page for more details.

To find out more or donate, visit: HTTP://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/rotaryscooterrun.