TWO charities are expected to share around £14,000 from the fundraising exploits of four friends and their faithful second-hand car.
In six days, Joanne Magilton, Louise Kershaw, Tracey Rontree and Lisa Watson, plus their Skoda Octavia, nicknamed Bob 82, successfully completed their Benidorm or Bust challenge, driving 1,400 miles through France and Spain.
The girls also clocked up another initial 270 miles from the Wellington pub on Chew Valley Road in Greenfield to meet up with 46 other teams in Dover.
Their fundraising appeal doesn’t close until the end of June. And with the impending sale of dependable Bob, a current total of £12,781.26 is predicted to swell even higher to benefit Willow Wood Hospice in Ashton and Dr Kershaw’s Hospice, Royton.
“It went amazingly well,” said proud Joanne from Greenfield. “We were the only all-female team but we became famous for the money we raised for charity. The next highest total down from us was around £1,800.
“Can you believe we set off from the Welly and didn’t hit one traffic jam all the way to Benidorm?
We believe our friends who are no longer with us were sat up there guiding us on.
“We met some fantastic people and teams from Warrington, Blackpool and Stockport really looked out for us.
“We were always late and renowned for being last but it wasn’t a race. The most important thing was not having an accident and arriving safely each night.”
Dependable Bob visited Rouen, Poitiers, Pau and Zaragoza before steering into Benidorm on the Costa Blanca.
There was also a stop off in Le Mans – home of the famous 24-hour endurance race – plus a drive on part of the street circuit used in the Pau Grand Prix.
The only fright was a red light flashing up on Bob’s dashboard.
“We had no idea what was happening so Lisa took a photo and put it on Facebook. One of the guys who comes in the pub messaged us to say the engine was overheating, to stop the car, cool the engine down and then top up with water.
“That’s what we did and it fixed it. Apart from that Bob ran like a dream.”
The fab four originally planned the trip in 2019 prior to Covid hitting. So, would they embark on a similar journey?
“We need a bit of time off to recuperate,” laughed Joanne. “We all said we would do it again but a different rally.
“We wouldn’t want to spoil the experience of this one. We want to keep the memories of the whole experience.”
• If you would like to donate to the appeal an online collection pot can be accessed via: www.collectionpot.com/pot/1452002/
What an incredible amount for two fantastic hospices. Well done 🙂