Although the terminology possesses a questionable attribute, we are truly suckers for a great story and Land Rover’s influence over the beautiful but remote, Scottish Isle of Mull is one that made our ears prick-up. As part of its 70th anniversary year of activities, Land Rover sent a team of its LR Experience drivers and volunteers to Mull, in a fleet of Land Rovers, to deliver unique three-word address plaques from ‘what3words’, to 2,000 properties on the island, many of which are in isolated areas.
‘What3words’ is a British technology firm that has divided the globe into a grid of 57 trillion 3m x 3m squares, each possessing a unique, easy-to-remember, three-word address that is searchable by an app that works offline.
‘Addressing Mull’ is the first project in a new, exclusive, global automotive humanitarian partnership between Jaguar Land Rover and ‘what3words’. The two companies collaborated following a request made by the island's doctor, Brian Prendergast. He asked for help to provide every home and business a precise address that could provide a faster medical lifeline in the event of emergencies.
The three-word addresses will help Dr Prendergast and his colleagues to respond to emergency call-outs with greater speed and accuracy, as part of a measure to improve everyday healthcare on the island. Without detailed local knowledge of the island, which is peppered with tiny back lanes across its challenging geography, it can be difficult for new members of his team to find individual homes, where postcodes cover large land areas and there are no formal street names.
Dr Prendergast stated: “Using three-word addresses will improve vastly the abilities of doctors and nurses, particularly those new to the island, to locate and assist patients that live in extremely remote areas. We believe that the programme will not only help us to deliver a better routine healthcare service, but that we shall save vital minutes in emergency call-outs that can literally save a life. The island is really grateful to ‘what3words’ and Land Rover for putting Mull on the map.”
Chris Thorp, Responsible Business Director, Jaguar Land Rover, underscored the exercise: “At Jaguar Land Rover, we are passionate about the impact that technology can make, especially when combined with the enterprise of our people. Addressing Mull by Land Rover is the ideal way to launch our global humanitarian partnership with ‘what3words’, which has the potential to transform isolated communities around the world, by making them more accessible. We have more than 40 active social impact projects that could benefit, so this is just the beginning of what we can achieve together, as we explore exciting opportunities for the future.”
Working alongside ‘what3words’, Jaguar Land Rover will continue an impressive legacy of sharing its skills and technology to make a difference to people’s lives and make communities stronger. In 2017 alone, a record 25 per cent of Jaguar Land Rover’s 43,000-strong global workforce volunteered more than 100,000 hours to support team education visits and community projects that were focused on regeneration, the environment, education and the community.
