A GROUP of van enthusiasts have taken on a heartfelt challenge to help refurbish a 1960s VW camper for a man with a brain tumour.
Ben Yates, 46, from Hove, was compelled to help when he got a message last month from an association of van lovers sending an email out to their members calling for people to assist with a project for a man who was very ill.
Joe Lungley, a plumber from Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, started having seizures at work in March last year and after several scans and tests, as well as two surgeries, Joe was given the devastating news in December that he had an aggressive brain tumour which was inoperable.
The split screen VW camper, which Joe bought as a personal project from America five years ago, was not finished and he needed help on the work he had started so he could enjoy it with his family.
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By day, Ben runs a creative marketing agency but has his VW restoration business, Nutjob, on the side.
Ben travelled up to Suffolk with his son Sam, 14, to collect the van, named Marley, on January 24 and bring it back to his workshop with his staff.
The aim is to get the van ready within six weeks so Joe, his wife Paula, two young children and two dogs can enjoy some trips in the UK with the time they have left together.
Ben told The Argus: “Their thing is going to the beach, they love going there. So this is what that is about, getting them to the beach and to go and enjoy that as a normal family.
“The most important part for me was they’re just like any other family. They’re just like any other family that have come across an unforeseen thing that can happen to any of us.
“The fact I have the teams and the ability to make that difference by restoring the van, I just couldn’t say no.
“For the family, it’s all a bit of an unknown from a time scale point of view. For all of us it’s a message to say enjoy stuff now.
“What it has done is brought a lot of people together offering their help, people have offered help as far from Liverpool and even Germany sending parts for the van.”
Ben and his team of mechanics have put other projects to the side and have been working most days on Joe’s van, often starting at 7am and finishing by 10.00pm to get the van done as quickly as possible with the help of “lots of cups of tea".
The decision was an easy one for Ben to make when he received the initial email about Joe.
He said: “We have the right skillset, the right people, the premises, we have to do it. There’s no two ways about it."
Ben is recording the process and uploading it to the Nutjob website. He has also started a GoFundMe page to help fund the van and raise money for the family.
For more information on the GoFundMe and the project, visit the Nutjob website.
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