This is the only sensible part of the Mongol Rally. Amid the insanity of this whole idea lies a glimmer of common sense. We are all doing this for Charity. With 70 teams running - and having to raise a minimum of £1000 each, the event promises to be a good one for the causes we are supporting. Team Mongolian Job is hoping to exceed this figure by as much as we (and you!) possibly can.

There looks like being 2 main charities that event competitors will be supporting this year.

The first is called 'Send a Cow'. This is a really excellent charity which provides high yield livestock to some of the poorest families in Africa. The charity is older than the car we'll be competing in, so its well established!

The charity was formed when it became apparent that sending milk to African regions didn't really tackle the root of the problem, so instead they pledged to send cows. More recently, the charity has been focussing particularly on those people affected by war, drought and Aids. The charity also provides hands-on training, so that the recipients learn livestock farming techniques and can become self sustaining.

Furthermore, the charity activity has expanded - providing not just cows, but also smaller livestock such as pigs, goats and chickens. You can view case studies (in word documents) of some of the livestock programmes, and of water programmes. Comic Relief is a supporter of the Send a Cow programme. The Mongol Rally features on their forthcoming events page. 60% of the money raised will go this charity.

"A third of Mongolian children live in poverty, exacerbated by the country’s harsh winters. The first two years of this century have seen some of the harshest winters on record following on from very dry summers – over two million livestock died, farming was devastated and homeless people’s lives were threatened.
The country is still reeling from the collapse of the welfare system brought about from the withdrawal of large Soviet subsidies in 1990. Unemployment has risen and there are increasing problems of homelessness, family breakdown and the deterioration of the country’s education and health systems. Save the Children works in six regions of Mongolia, focusing on: education and social welfare".