Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page, raising money for Make-A-Wish by journeying to Meese Essen as part of Caravan of the Force.

So, what's the Caravan of the Force?  It's a two vehicle convoy with six very special people on-board, all with the common goal of raising money for Make-A-Wish.  The Caravan will be travelling from the UK to France, Belgium, Holland and Germany arriving in time for Star Wars Celebration Europe that takes place 26-28th July in Messe Essen, and then we all drive back again!  As we reach each country we’ll be welcomed by the local 501st Garrison and we’ll raise awareness of our trip and raise funds locally.

In addition, once we're back we'll be auctioning off a number of very special one off items on eBay including a Microsoft Star Wars Xbox signed by various actors and behind-the-scenes people from Star Wars and The Clone Wars. The auctions will start in August and run through to the end of September.

The trip has been organised and will be led by James Burns and Mark Newbold who co-own/run Jedi News, the UK’s #1 Star Wars fan site and the largest English speaking Star Wars fan site in Europe.  James and Mark also write for the Official Star Wars magazine the Star Wars Insider as well as the Official Star Wars Blog at StarWars.com.  Lucasfilm worked with James and Mark to put the Caravan together and help turn a wacky idea into reality.

Joining James and Mark is fan favourite actor Jeremy Bulloch, who played Boba Fett in the original Star Wars films and has acted in numerous other films including Summer Holiday and Octopussy. Jeremy’s wife Maureen is also coming along to keep us all in check!

The final two joining the Caravan are Jedi News team members Matt Booker (Automattic Comics) and Dave Tree (All the Cool Stuff and Palitoy Archive) who bring their driving skills and almost eighty years of combined Star Wars knowledge on-board.

A journey like this is a great way to spread the word and explain what Make-A-Wish do as well as raising money for them, at the same time continuing to promote the great charitable efforts the Star Wars community provides worldwide each and every day. Our aim is to raise a total of £5,000 for Make-A-Wish UK to help make a difference to children who won't necessarily ever get the chance to travel on exciting journeys like this or enjoy the magic of Star Wars at a Celebration event.

So, friends, family, strangers and Star Wars fans alike, dig deep and contribute to the Caravan of the Force.  It doesn't matter how big or little the contribution, it all goes to Make-A-Wish and hopefully together we can help bring smiles to the faces of many terminally ill children by turning their wishes and dreams into reality.