Thursday 17th July

Every now and then something extraordinary happens that reminds us of just how amazing people can be. We were lucky enough to be part of an incredible act of individual and collective generosity last night at the Norwegian lectures. In an emotional speech which had almost everyone in the room in tears at end of the lectures, the incredibly charismatic and unbelievably dedicated and hard working local organiser Dr Svein Bakke presented a cheque for a massive £20,000 (211,000 Kr) to the Vets with Horsepower team. This huge amount of money was raised by the Norwegian delegates (who paid to see the lectures) and from sponsorship raised by Dr Bakke (the sponsors can be found on the Vets with Horsepower Facebook page and the Virgin Money Giving site). This is the largest donation from any venue we have visited and takes the total raised for Smile Train and The Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust to over £80,000!

To put the Norwegian donation into context, this is enough to pay for life saving cleft palate and hair lip surgery on 100 children and vaccinate 2,500 horses or donkeys against tetanus. Go Svein, Go Norway and Go Horsepower!