“That’s Andy” refers to car number 4, driven by Andy Sills and Andy Barkel. Their mission, to drive this car, purchased for £200, from Wittersham via the Channel Tunnel to their final destination, Monte Carlo. The send-off was covered by Rye News with the Andys plotting their journey from the Swan pub in Wittersham and starting the next day at 5:30 am.
The trip was in aid of Martha Trust, a charity which provides lifelong care for people with profound physical and learning disabilities in Kent and East Sussex. This event takes place annually with a different destination each year and has proved to be very popular and such a fun way of raising much needed funds.
The various teams are encouraged to raise a minimum of £1,500 and to wear fancy dress for the journey, plot their progress via social media and share their images along the way. The route started at Folkestone, then to Dijon, the next stop was Avignon then finally, after 892 miles, Monte Carlo.
The Andys have kept in touch along the way, the car performed well and only started rattling at 75mph. The solution: to drive a little faster and, bingo, no more rattles! The gallery of photos below highlights some of the journey, one of the photos taken by a competing car, but such is the camaraderie between competitors that getting there was the main objective and the only winner was Martha Trust.
The boys smashed their fund-raising target and at the last update over a week ago they had raised a staggering £4,600 and with more expected to come in still. Congratulations to them both for not only completing their epic journey but for raising such a large amount of money for a charity which obviously means a great deal to them. What an amazing achievement and what a fun way to raise money for charity.
In all, 13 teams from Kent and Sussex took part in this year’s event with 12 making it to Monte Carlo. The drivers were then treated to a celebratory meal while their vehicles headed for the scrap yard. So far, the event has raised an eye watering £45,000 and next year’s destination has just been confirmed: Barcelona via Dover, sometime in September, date to be confirmed.
If you’d like to take part or consider becoming a main sponsor, call Martha Trust on 01304 610448 or email fundraising@marthatrust.org.uk
Image Credits: Andy Barkel .