The official Mongolian Charity Rally

10,000 miles of pot-holes, bandits and strange borders... Oh, and it's the only Mongolian rally all for charity

The Mongolia Charity Rally is a pan-continental drive across five mountain ranges, two deserts and more barren and inhospitable lands than you care to shake a gear-stick at. Starting in London, the final destination is the great Mongol capital of Mongolia, beyond the Gobi desert, Ulaanbaatar.

On 5 July 2008 the teams set forth to the sounds of a traditional Mongolian Naadam festival [1] in the heart of London. The Mongolian community in London laid on the fermented mare's milk, there was some fine music and a crash course in traditional Mongolian wrestling and archery.

See where they are now [2]! You could follow in their tyre tracks!

Once off the island the road is your shepherd - you could choose to take in the delights of Poland, Ukraine and Russia, or boldly point your vehicle in a southerly direction towards Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Whichever road you take, you'll be faced with a wealth of makeshift mechanics, border bribery, mutton kebabs and pure unadulterated adventure, before passing into the realms of immortal glory at the finish line in central Mongolia.

All the vehicles that make it to the end will be donated to the CDPF [3] in Mongolia. The choice of vehicle is in your hands - make it hard and comical with something entirely unsuitable, or take something more serious, allowing for more off-road experience, and giving the charity something really worthwhile at the end. Every team has to raise money for charities [4] working in Mongolia, along the way, or back home.

This great Mongol adventure is organised by volunteers at Go Help [5], a UK Charity helping folk raise money for some really great causes. Any funds Go Help raise from commercial sponsorship and TV coverage will also go to the charitable projects in Mongolia. Sign-up NOW to get on the greatest charity adventure of 2008. [6]

Don't want to go in July? We can help you go at any time of year, click here for full details. [7] Not from the UK? Don't worry you can join us on the route and we'll even help you arrange your own launch from your own country. If you are from the US we've got a rally coming in from the US too. More about this in the forums. [8]

Please note that the Mongolia Charity Rally is not the same event as the Mongol Rally organised by the profit making League of Adventurists International Ltd. The Mongolia Charity Rally is organised by Go Help, a UK charity set up and staffed by unpaid trustees who have all either organised rallies to Mongolia or participated in them in the past. Go Help was created to promote an ethical model of charity rallying, ensuring that all funds raised for charitable activities go to charity with little or no provision for administrative costs, and to ensure that the organisers are also helping the charities, not just the rally enthusiasts. Rally enthusiasts pay lower entry fees and the charities raise more money than with rallies that are run for profit.