ONLYOFFICE joins the 4L Trophy humanitarian adventure

Every year, the 4L Trophy rally brings together students for a sport and charity event to help children in Morocco. For the first time, ONLYOFFICE decided to contribute to this mission by supporting team 1823.

About 4L Trophy

Similar to the famous Paris-Dakar Rally, the 4L Trophy is a rally in a retro Renault 4 for young people aged 18 to 28. The race was first held in 1997, with 5 crews participating. Since then, it began to be held every year.

The next 4L Trophy will take place from 5 to 15 May 2022. The rally will celebrate its 25th anniversary, so the number of teams applied has already exceeded 1500.

The route crosses three countries and covers 6500 km in the direction of Marrakesh. The participants will start the adventure in Biarritz. On the way to Gibraltar, they will cross France and Spain before going to Morocco by ferry. The last stage of the raid is the autonomous orientation test through the off-road terrain of the Sahara. The teams should find the shortest route possible without using GPS.

Humanitarian mission

The humanitarian idea of the 4L Trophy is to promote education for disadvantaged Moroccan children. That’s why all participants bring school supplies and sports equipment in their cars.

Besides, the rally entrants can donate to the local aid association Enfants du désert (Children of the Desert). The donation will be used to build schools in remote areas of the region.

Crew 1823

Guillaume Sion and Mélanie Cortes, two French students who are on the way to their dream, participate in the rally. Both have obtained their Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Bordeaux. Now Guillaume is doing the M1 in Mechanical engineering and Mélanie – in Industrial purchasing.

Guillaume and Melanie knew about the 4L Trophy and were attracted by it. And once the opportunity presented itself.  “When one of Melanie’s relatives wanted to sell his Renault 4, we decided that, finally, we would take part in this adventure, a bit on a whim!”

So, the car is found, the compass is ready, the report card is filled in. What’s next? But Guillaume and Melanie already have a lot of preparation work to do.

The first thing is done: they have been able to paint the car while waiting for the first sponsors. Now financially supported by ONLYOFFICE they are starting to renew and prepare the 38-years-old car for the raid.

Looking for sponsors

The budget for participation includes registration, car repairs, petrol, food and school supplies for the children. For the two students, this is a huge amount of money and they asked for sponsorship.

After receiving a letter from Melanie and Guillaume asking us to sponsor them, we discovered something similar to our story: starting from scratch but having an idea and motivation. Besides, ONLYOFFICE offers solutions for universities and students, so why not help children in Morocco?

If you also want to contribute to the education of Moroccan children and help Guillaume and Melanie, feel free to contact them contact@laspi.org.

P. S. We will follow the preparations and keep you informed of everything that is interesting, the course of the raid and its results.