'Why I’m Driving My Transit to Santa’s Home this Christmas'

DUNTON, UK – Ford engineer Matthew Rice is about to set off on a festive fund-raising road trip – delivering hundreds of children’s letters to Santa’s hometown in Lapland in a specially converted Ford Transit.

Matt, who joined Ford as an apprentice is 2007 and currently works as a vehicle infotainment and connectivity engineer at Dunton Campus, faces a near 2,000-mile-long journey from his home in Essex all the way to Rovaniemi in Finland, and will camp in the back of his van along the way with his wife and three young children.

“I’ve always been fascinated by travel and seeking new experiences, and I’m a huge Ford Transit fan, so back in the summer I bought my van at an auction,” he explains. “It was an ex-rental with 42,000 miles, no service history, and had been written off for the second time in its life due to roof damage. I managed to knock out the dents and fill them myself. It felt more sustainable to save a van rather than buy a new one, and I wanted to show that this form of travel can be accessible to many.

“Having taken part in several cold-weather tests for Ford, I know the challenges of Arctic driving. My aim for the camper conversion was to rely only on electricity for heating and cooking. It’s safer than gas, and it reduces our carbon footprint.

“The van is heavily insulated with six different layers – far more than a typical camper – to use less energy keeping us warm. For power, I’ve fitted two large leisure batteries, four solar panels, and an inverter that allows us to use an air fryer, an induction hob, and a kettle. For sleeping, we have a pull-out double bed, a camp bed, and a unique sleeping system over the front seats for the kids. 

“And then I thought, this Christmas wouldn’t it be great to do something charitable with my van.  Mental health is something very close to my heart, so I reached out to my local mental health charity Mind, in Havering, Barking and Dagenham, with some fund-raising suggestions, and we came up with the idea of delivering children’s letters to Santa’s official hometown.”

Setting off on December 14, Matt will drive through France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany before catching a ferry to Denmark. From there he’ll head North along the East coast of Sweden before crossing the border into Finland.

“It will take around seven days to get to Rovaniemi to deliver the letters, and then the plan is to head deeper into the Arctic Circle all the way to Nordkapp in Norway to achieve the status of the Northern most Transit in mainland Europe. It’s another 400 miles or so from Rovaniemi.”

Matt will livestream footage of his journey on his YouTube channel using a dash-mounted GoPro so friends and family can follow his Arctic adventure.

“I’ve got every faith my Transit will get us there and back safely,” he says. “I’ve added some all-terrain tyres for extra grip on snow and ice, and I’ll be taking a special fuel additive and spare fuel filters with me as diesel can get waxy in extreme cold. I’ve also added a lot of aftermarket lights for improved visibility, but other than that, the running gear is standard.”

If you would like to support Matt and send a letter from your child to Santa, click the QR code in the image below to donate £1.00 and every penny raised will go to Mind in Havering, Barking and Dagenham. You can also follow Matt on Instagram here.

Each December, Mind transforms the historic Harrow Lodge Park in Hornchurch, Essex, into Havering Christmas Land, beautifully illuminating the building with twinkling lights. Around 30,000 people visit the site at this time of year where they get to enjoy a spectacular Christmas Lights Walkway in the ‘Secret Garden’ next to the building and can also met Santa in his Grotto.

For booking details, click this link.