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 Recordsachievement. 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.
