Some of you who know me will have heard that two friends and I are taking part in a charity event called the Scally Rally. This involves us driving from Calais in France, down to Rimini in Italy, via a number of stops on the way. Interesting in itself, but slightly more challenging when the car can only be worth ?100!!!
As said, the route takes us from Calais to Rimini, passing through Switzerland, and then even driving down the Stelvio Pass, as featured on Top Gear. Now unfortunately, our ?100 budget didn't quite run to a Porsche 911 GT3 RS, or a Gallardo Super-something-or-other, so we had to go for the next best thing, a Volvo!!!!!!! And here it is, a mighty Volvo 740 2.3 estate!
Now, frankly, it's hideous, but it's somewhat spacious and comfortable, so will do the job well, but probably use more fuel than a super tanker, and is hardly going to light up the tarmac!!
Anyway, as well as this all being a rather good jolly, there is a more serious side to it. We are hoping to raise some money for a good cause, that being Help for Heroes, which supports British service personnel injured whilst on duty. One of our team members (who has sadly had to pull out due to training commitments) is serving in the Army and I'm sure many of you at least know people affected by the conflicts all around the world that our armed forces are involved in. We are looking for as many donations as possible, big or small, every little helps and could make a difference to someone.
We have a website,
www.scrally.co.uk, which has a direct link where you can donate, and also information about our team and the various trials and tribulations involved in planning our adventure. Please bare with us, we are trying to get the site as up to date as possible, but with other commitments, we can't be totally on top of things.
We will be departing on the 11th of September, with the rally itself starting on the 12th and we will hopefully arrive in Rimini on the 15th. With any luck we will be able to drive the Volvo back too!
If you would like more information on the rally itself, then you can visit
www.scallyrally.co.uk, which has a forum for the other competitors and various other information.
We are hoping to attend the next regional meet on the 26th of August, so if you wish to donate, you can try to catch us in person, or simply click on our website and donate through our secure service.
The car is going to be undergoing somewhat of a transformation over the next week or so, so if you do attend the meet, you will get to see the new improved Volvo, and all of us will be more than happy to give you more information and relieve you of some of that heavy money in your pockets!!!!
All support is very much appreciated, as I say, every penny counts, so please give whatever you can afford, and if you have a company and wish to sponsor, we may even be able to get some vinyl on the car so you get a little free advertising to boot.
Thanks
Jon, Dan and Will
