Prison
officer Andy Maxfield’s amazing journey from John O’Groats to Land’s End on an
unmodified lawn tractor has been officially recognised as a GUINNESS WORLD
RECORDS achievement.
The
story of Andy’s epic journey is featured in a new display at the Land’s End
Visitor Centre in Cornwall, and also at the British Lawnmower Museum in
Southport.
The
874-mile record attempt in July 2017 took Andy 5 days, 8 hours and 36 minutes,
making it the fastest time for the journey on a ride-on lawnmower. Andy
embarked on the challenge to raise funds and awareness for Alzheimer’s Society
after his father was diagnosed with the disease.
Andy’s
initial goal was to raise a modest £1000 for Alzheimer’s Society through the
lawnmower challenge in July last year, followed by a charity ball in December.
“So far we’ve collected over £9000 and now I’m trying to reach our new target
of £10,000 by the end of 2018,” said Andy.
“We’re keeping the JustGiving page www.justgiving.com/andrew-maxfieldopen until then. Donations can also be made by
texting MAXF80 £3 to 70070.
“I’m
very proud my record attempt was successful but I couldn’t have done it without
the encouragement of my family and support team, and having a great lawn
tractor certainly helped.”
To
supply proof for the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS attempt, the lawnmower was fitted
with a tracking system routinely used by much larger agricultural machinery for
guidance and monitoring.
John
Deere’s Operations Centre was able to track Andy’s entire journey via JDLink
software. The resulting data was the proof needed to verify Andy’s route and
travelling time as a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS success.
Sadly,
Andy’s father, the inspiration behind the John O’Groats to Land’s End
challenge, lost his own battle with dementia in January 2018, unaware that his
son’s magnificent achievement was indeed a record.
- Alzheimer’s
Society is available for anyone affected by dementia and there are lots of
ways the charity can help – for details call the National Dementia
Helpline on 0300 222 1122 or visit www.alzheimers.org.uk.
