A GROUP of intrepid explorers will be giving up their turkey and mince pies this Christmas to drive in convoy from Worcester to the Gambia.

The 16-strong team hope to raise thousands of pounds for African schoolchildren on the 4,000 mile journey to West Africa. Aged from 21 to 70, the group will pack into five minibuses, one support vehicle and a VW Golf on Sunday, December 20, for the epic 10-day trip.

Worcester mechanic Dave Connellan, aged 51, and his wife Sue, 50, are leading the mission to raise cash for the Glory Baptist Project, a charity they set up to fund a 3,000-pupil school in the Gambia.

The minibuses, which will be donated to the Glory Baptist School, will be loaded with van parts, school essentials and sports equipment, including bicycles.

Some are lifelong friends, some have never met before, but all 16 will drive in convoy from Worcester to Plymouth, take the ferry to Santander, head through Spain into Gibraltar, and sail across the Strait of Gibraltar to reach Morocco and collect visas.

They will camp under the stars in western Sahara on Christmas Day, and cross into Senegal before taking a final ferry trip across to the Gambia on Tuesday, December 29.

On the way, they will average 450 miles a day on dirt roads, cross deserts and negotiate dangerous border crossings.

Dave Connellan said: “We’re so excited to be making the trip. It will mean so much to the children to be able to travel in safe vehicles as opposed to the dangerous ones they have to use now.

“It’s the difference between them being able to get to the school and not, the difference between them having a future and not.”

Volunteers with collecting tins will be outside the Co-op in Stourport-on-Severn on Sunday, November 8.

Mr Connellan is also looking for one more volunteer. For more information, or to donate funds or sporting or educational equipment call Dave on 07973 265632 or Sue Connellan on 07866 461256.

Also taking part are Jason Owen, manager of the Dewdrop Inn in Lower Broadheath; Andy Moseley, landlord of the Mason’s Arms in Wichenford; Worcester retail worker Trevor Gibb; retired postman Chris Worton, from Worcester, and teacher Ewan Thompson, from Worcester.

Also involved are Dale Bradley, who runs Dale Garden Landscape Services from Lower Broadheath, and retired nurse Tina Barton, from Warrington.

They are joined by Redditch teacher Danielle Croft; Worcester surveyor Neil Carey; Dave Sidwell, who runs Choc & Hog Catering in Worcester; Taylor Made Speeches entrepreneur David Taylor, also from Worcester; ex-teacher Simon Gisborne, from Bristol; journalist Tanya Gledhill, of Kenswick, and Neil Neath, from Wichenford.