Continuing with our Help Your Britain campaign, today marks the 12th user-nominated charity to be showcased on Bing.
There are more than 187,000 registered charities across Great Britain with a story to be told, many of whom will never be heard due to the lack of resources at their disposal. We’re shining the spotlight on these unsung British heroes as part of our long-term campaign, enabling you, the British public, to nominate the charities you would like to see via www.bing.com/HelpYourBritain.
Today is the turn of…
KartForce was launched in August 2010 by Dave Player, who served five years in the Royal Engineers, and who is now a wheelchair user as a result of a spinal injury. Kartforce’s aim is to make people think about all the things they CAN DO instead of all the things they can’t!
Located in Berkshire, KartForce takes standard racing karts and converts them, enabling ex-soldiers with a variety of ailments to try karting and experience all of the thrills and spills the motorsport offers. In addition, KartForce provides a mentoring service to injured troops to assist in their rehabilitation and recovery. KartForce’s aim is to build self-esteem by teaching visitors to race, to win and be competitive, instead of feeling held back by the negative experiences they have been through.
A few words from Dave:
“It’s the most fun I’ve had since being injured,” said a smiling Luke when he came off the track after his first session of karting with hand controls.
It was a wet and cold day, but the two new lads, Ryan and Luke, still came out to try karting for the first time. Ryan and Luke are both 21 and both are above knee double amputees with hand injuries (one lad has no hip bone on one side). They were school mates, joined the Army together, ended up in the same unit and were injured a few days apart. Both are now going through rehab together.
On the same day, Nicky joined for his second session. He was very impressive in the wet, clocking the fastest lap of the session – which he won’t let his mate, the super-fast Mark forget. Mark, who is 22 and also a double amputee, has been racing with KartForce for a year and coaches the rookies. He led the “train” around the track showing the new lads how it’s done.
A few sessions in and Ryan, Luke and Nicky were battling it out with Mark, lap after lap – it was great to watch. Just a few more sessions and these rookies will be entering their first race. Between these four lads there’s only one leg – but definitely no lack of British competitiveness.
It’s great welcoming new people to KartForce and showing them that they can compete on a level playing field with non-injured drivers. The massive smiles on their faces and their encouraging feedback is what KartForce is all about.
To read more about these speedy daredevils or for more information on how you can support KartForce visit www.kartforce.org.
If you would like to see your charity of choice take over the Bing homepage, you can nominate them here: www.bing.com/HelpYourBritain. Don’t forget to get involved with the conversation on Facebook and Twitter #HelpYourBritain