Sherlock, Holmes and Watson and the adventure of the Parsons’ Yellow Frog
Four former Rugby Union teammates are joining together to complete a driving challenge to raise money for the charity, Wooden Spoon.
Derek Sherlock, 62; David ‘Stinger’ Holmes, 49; Dave ‘Watto’ Watson, 51 and Nigel Parsons, 56, were all part of the same successful Sheffield RUFC side in the 1980’s and have remained in close contact ever since.
The challenge will begin on Thursday, 22 September, at Abbeydale Sports Ground, the home of Sheffield RUFC, progressing through the Dore Moor ground of Sheffield Tigers and the Gosforth home of Dronfield RUFC on the way south.
The four men will drive their own classic vehicles from Sheffield to La Forge, Bessin in the Limousin region and back in 5 days. This equates to approximately 1200 miles in total or 240 miles per day.
Derek had retired to La Forge but returned to Sheffield in 2008. The team plan to parade their vehicles at La Souterrain Rugby Club, before turning home.
The quartet’s passion for cars and bikes was ignited following a joint project between Watto and Nigel to restore Nigel’s 1959 primrose yellow Austin Healey ‘Frogeye’ Sprite in 2006.
As the project developed Watto’s wife bought him a 1959 MG ZB Magnette Varitone for his 50th birthday adding a second vehicle to the growing fleet in 2009.
At the same time, Stinger approached Derek to help with his restoration project, a 1962 Triumph T120 Bonneville bike, which he was rebuilding from the ground up.
Eventually Derek gave in to temptation, buying a 1977 MG Roadster thus completing the line-up of vehicles which will be taking part in the challenge.
During this time the men have been meeting every Sunday to discuss and renovate their vehicles.
Nigel said: “This is something we have wanted to do for a long time. It will be difficult but we know how important this money is for the children of South Yorkshire adding, we can’t wait to get started.”
Wooden Spoon is a children's charity founded in 1983 dedicated to helping underprivileged children and young people all over the UK and Ireland. The regional committees of the charity undertake local fundraising activities and ensure that the money is spent on projects in their community.
This will ensure that the money raised from this challenge will go to projects in South Yorkshire and will be visible for everyone in the local area to see.
David Knaggs, Regional Committee Chair for the Yorkshire branch of the charity, said: “This is an exciting challenge for a truly worth cause. Wooden Spoon is always thrilled about any donation as it gives us a chance to improve the lives of children in the local area.”
All the money raised will go directly to Wooden Spoon as the men are funding the costs of the challenge, such as petrol, ferries and accommodation, themselves.
Contacts: Corporate Sponsorship: Nigel Parsons nigel.parsons@valuadding.com
Direct Giving: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Sherlock-Holmes-and-Watson-and-the-adventure-of-the-Parsons-yellow-frog
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