Sorry it's taken a while for the website to be updated but we made it from Land's End to John O'Groats in the 4 days that we planned, arriving in JOG at 1700 on Sunday 3 October and greeted by a crowd of about 100 cheering people.

 

The journey was an amazing experience with some incredible scenery to take in, albeit through rather rain-soaked visors for the most part!

 

The fundraising has not yet finished as the TEXT service and the Online Donation Service will be running until January.  Please continue to pass on the message and get as many people as possible to donate.  Every penny counts!

 

The team that are to complete the Lands End to John O' Groats scooter challenge consisting of Red Arrows and BBMF pilots and groundcrew have arrived at Lands End, ready for the start of the 4 day journey that will commence at 7:30 thursday morning. Please support us in this challenge as all the money raised goes to great charities.

 

At long last the BBMF scooters are ready for LEJOG.

 

The scooter that Squadron Leader Ian Smith, Officer Commanding BBMF, will ride is modelled on their Mk IIa Spitfire, P7350.  This aircraft is the oldest flying Spitfire in the world and saw action during the Battle of Britain itself.  To find out more about the BBMF's fleet of aircraft click here

 

The scooter was taken to RAF Coningsby for the photo above at the BBMF's HQ.

 

More photos are in the BBMF Gallery

 

We would like to say a big thanks to a variety of dealers across the UK to whom the LEJOG scooters actually belong.

 

Without them the campaign would go nowhere so we are truly grateful.

 

There have already been lots of questions about what will happen to the Vespas after LEJOG.  These dealers are the guys to ask!

 

For those that are wondering what the BBMF scooters look like, watch this space for some photos later in the week.

 

9 of the branded Red Arrows Vespa scooters made it out of the hangar at RAF Scampton for some formation riding on the runway.

 

The Red Arrows pilots used their new Arai helmets and Spada clothing to keep them dry in the lovely Lincolnshire weather!

 

There are some pictures in our new Gallery.

 

 

 

The first Vespa to be branded in Red Arrows colours made its debut at the Farnborough Airshow on Saturday, attracting lots of attention from visitors to the Show.

 

The Vespa was taken to Farnborough to launch the LEJOG campaign and begin fundraising.

 

The Red Arrows visited the Get On Roadshow to meet their team who are promoting motorcycle safety through the Get On Campaign.

 

Keep a lookout on the roads around Lincolnshire for more of the Vespas as they come out of the paint shop.

 

14 brand new Vespa S125 Scooters were delivered to RAF Scampton today, courtesy of Vespa UK.

 

The picture shows 10 red scooters for the Red Arrows and 4 black ones for the BBMF.

 

The scooters arrived early before each was painstakingly inspected by the Vepsa Technicians to ensure their Pre-Delivery Inspections were completed.

 

The bikes are now waiting to be branded before more photographs are taken - watch this space!

 

Vespa UK have kindly loaned us the scooters to complete LEJOG.  They each currently have only 2 miles on their speedometers.  They will go back to Vespa UK to be sent to the dealers involved before being sold - with an extra 1000 miles added to the clocks.

 

 

While some of the LEJOG riders hold motorbike licences, the majority have little or no riding experience at all.

 

8 of the riders completed their Compulsory Basic Training this week at Airfield Motorcycle Training School at Waltham near Grimsby.

 

BBMF pilots Dunc and Parky (pictured above with instructor John Walton - photo by Rick Byrne) kicked off the training, comleting the day-long course and achieving their CBT Certificates on Monday.

 

Ben Murphy, leader of the Red Arrows, along with Lingy and Monty followed on Tuesday to get to grips with 50cc mopeds to learn the basics before progressing to 125cc geared motorbikes.  Again, all received their CBT Certificates after studying theory and basic handling before hitting the local roads for over 2 hours to gain extra experience.

 

The clean sweep was achieved on Wednesday when Kermit, Zane and Pablo all completed the course.

 

Compulsory Basic Training must be completed before riders (depending on age and car licence held) can ride a motorbike or scooter above 50cc without supervision.  All of the LEJOG riders can now ride the 125cc scooters.  You will be able to tell who the riders are with only CBT as they must ride with L Plates on their scooters.

 

The first of our 10 red Vespa scooters has been delivered to The Red Arrows' home base at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire ready for the launch of the Team's LEJOG campaign.  The Piaggio Group, who are Vespa's parent company, are lending us the machines to complete the 1000 mile challenge.

 

Squadron Leader Ben Murphy, Team Leader and Officer Commanding The Red Arrows, is pictured here alongside one of the famous BAE Systems Hawk aircraft.  'The Boss' is holding one of the Arai Chaser helmets that have been kindly donated by Phoenix NW, the UK distributor of Arai products.

 

The following 9 red scooters and the 4 black scooters for the BBMF riders are due to be delivered in the next 2 weeks, ready to be branded by Henson Franklyn, a branding solutions company.