It didn’t take long to decide to continue. It
was a no brainer but we needed to plan how it would be possible given that we
aren’t rich and there’s always too much month left at the end of the money. We needed sponsors. We decided what we could afford ourselves and
what we would need to cover. Fuel, accommodation, parts etc could be provided
from our own pockets but we’d need help with entry fees and tyres. A plan was
made to try and attract sponsorship. More of that later!
Next we had to plan what events to do. We
decided that we would stay with the Scottish Rally Championship and aim to
compete in five events. We wanted to support the clubs who helped us last year
where possible so, as it was too late to enter the Snowman rally, we decided
that the first event would be the Granite (to be featured in the next blog –
stay tuned!). The plan after the Granite, subject to getting a budget together,
would be the Scottish, the Speyside Stages, the Merrick and McRae Stages.
Deciding on charities to support was
actually very easy. As most people are
aware, the idea of Rally2Raise is using rallying to raise funds and awareness
for the chosen charities by competing and getting the car seen in as many
different places and in as many forms of media as possible. 2012 was very successful and £2,500 was
raised but, as we supported four charities, the total was watered down somewhat
by splitting in four ways. 2013 is to be the year we take “raising funds,
raising awareness” literally and have one charity for fund raising and one for
awareness raising which doesn’t necessarily require funds to be effective in its
message. We also wanted the charities to
be small and not especially well known.
The Nystagmus Network was chosen as the
fund raising cause as Archie, Rachel’s son and Katherine’s Godson, has the nystagmus
eye condition which normally renders most sufferers unable to drive. Archie comes from a very motorsport
orientated family on both his parents’ sides. He attended his first rally when
he was 4 weeks old. The fact that he is unlikely to ever be allowed behind the
wheel will be a huge blow when he’s old enough to understand. The Nystagmus Network helps to fund research
into the condition as well as assisting sufferers to live as normal a life as
possible. They offer information to
everyone from schools to hospitals as well as anyone else interested in the
condition. For more information about
anything to do with them please visit their website at www.nystagmusnet.org.
The Bottle Stop Campaign caught our eye as
perfect for awareness raising. It is
trying to get glasses and glass bottles swapped for plastic ones after certain
times in late night town centre pubs and clubs.
We had seen the campaign founder Jane’s story via mutual friends on
Facebook and decided to look into it some more. What we discovered saddened us as the story
of how Bottle Stop came to be was revealed.
We realised we wanted to support Jane’s cause as she had shown
tremendous courage in everything she has been through and is an example of true
bravery. Also, in our jobs, we regularly
see the aftermath of people under the influence using glass bottles as weapons.
When people get to a certain level of intoxication they wouldn’t care what they
were drinking from and the more sober amongst them should understand the
reasons for the swap. There are people
who consider themselves responsible and would never act in such a manner but
all it takes is a moment and lives are ruined forever. Again, more information can be found by
visiting www.facebook.com/bottlestopnow.
So, we have our events and we have our
charities and through some blooming hard work we managed to secure sponsorship
from E. Watson and Son, Pirelli, Andrew Wood Motorport, McPhersons Document
Solutions, Charles Derby Ecosse, Halo Lettings and San Juan Services in
addition to the long standing support from Songasport, Clark Motorsport and
Motorsport Mugs. We still have a lot to
raise to enable us to realise the aim of five SRC rounds but we’re quietly
confident and have had a lot of interest.
How do we intend on generating publicity
and donations? Well, we have decided to not only challenge ourselves to the
competitions themselves, we will also do something out of the ordinary before
every event. The Granite idea was to dye
our normally blonde hair Rally2Raise red.
In doing so we have raised over £300! A massive thank you to everyone
who has donated so far. It will all be
explained further in the Granite City Rally blog, coming to an internet site
near you soon!
There we have it, the Rally2Raise plan for
2013. We will, of course, be part of
other events, such as running as course car on the excellent Saltire Classic
Rally near Perth which we did in March. There will also be non-rally related
appearances and events. We will also not be asking for donations for the sake
of them, we will be earning them and, of course, running another raffle as last
year’s was so popular - we already have some prizes donated! However, if you wish to make a donation to
the Nystagmus Network regardless of what we’re doing please visit
www.justgiving.com/rally2raise.
We are eternally grateful to everyone who
has donated previously, both this year and last, and we look forward to an even
larger total at the end of 2013!
Rachel and Katherine
