Orkney fundraisers reach Sierra Leone

Two Orkney men have have completed an epic 7,500-mile journey to help deprived communities in north-west Africa.

Local businessmen Gareth Crichton and Tony Merriman left the county on Sunday, January 26, in the hope of making it all the way to Sierra Leone in a Fiat Panda.

Along the way, they have been bringing basic supplies to villages in Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea and Sierra Leone, as part of the annual Budapest to Bamako Rally.

Joined by their team mates, Canadian Max Johnston and Australians Alan Wallish and Steve Moon, they brought a former French ambulance with them. Both vehicles will now be left behind to aid communities in north-west Africa.