Charity Fundraising - Waxing!!!!!!!!!

[R59]

I ain't talking Autoglym neither!

It's going to be a few months before I get back out with you guys (hopefully) - but in the mean time, I'm raising money for Air Ambulance charities through (a) racing at Rockingham in the SCSA V8 Trophy, and (b) doing crazy things like........

Oh my god I've been really stitched up this time.

Having my legs waxed in the cause of charity. What's more, it'll probably be televised (oh the infamy!) and in the press (double infamy - they've got it in for me!)

How may tenths of a second per lap it'll save me, I don't know. But now it's YOUR turn.

Who's going to sponsor me then?

Hopefully, none of us, drivers, crew, or spectators, will ever need the services of these volunteers. Let's remember that - they are all volunteers, the Air Ambulance's that support our race meetings in England & Wales are all funded by charitable donations, not by the NHS, not by HM Government, but by people putting their hands in their pockets, either by straightforward donation, or sponsorship of fun events (fun? yeah right!) like my pain and torture on Sunday 24th June, at Rockingham Motor Speedway, in the pit garage of Team Air Ambulance - Car 59.

Tickets for the meeting (£10)are available from the 24hr Ticket Hotline - 0870 735 5000 quoting reference "Air Ambulance". That gives the Air Ambulance charity in YOUR area £2 from every ticket sold. There's a £1 booking fee per ticket, and a £2 total transaction fee. It's cheaper than buying them on the day (£15 on the gate).

If you're kind enough to donate, please contact my "manager" (wife!) suzanne@ot2.co.uk with your details and donation. With it being such a great cause, how about a fiver a leg then?

Rob.
(Slightly modified Vauxhall Astra Saloon 16v)
(Which will have to run a different number this year - it's 18 in Britcar)

[Chris Y]

Rob, set yourself up a page at : http://www.justgiving.com/ - makes it easier for people to donate to your cause

[Tim Falce]

I've made this a sticky and will leave it here for a while. Good luck with your new aerodynamic legs Rob.

[R59]

Originally Posted by Chris Y

Rob, set yourself up a page at : http://www.justgiving.com/ - makes it easier for people to donate to your cause

Hi Chris,

The problem here is that I'm raising money for ALL air ambulance charities, rather than one in particular.

For the "shiny legs appeal", the money will be split between the new Bedfordshire appeal from East Anglian Air Ambulance, and the new Hertfordshire appeal from Essex Air Ambulance. They are both about raising money to put new helicopters into areas not officially covered by anyone at the moment.

With Beds & Herts having some very busy main roads (A1M, A10, A505, M1, M25 and more) in them, they have no "birds" of their own, and currently rely on out of area helicopter support from Essex, East Anglian, Thames Valley & Chiltern, and Warwickshire & Northants, all of whom are stretched to the limit to cover their own patches.

The Just Giving site only allows me to set up for one single charity, and I don't want to set up two pages, or we'll see more money go to one charity than the other.

So, we'll have to collect it ourselves (somehow) and split the funds 50/50 here.

Rob.

[goforit500]

I always drop a few pounds in the HEMS collection tins when I see 'em as you just never know when they may save your life, as was recently brought very close to home recently.

I was the first to come across at a fatal crash about four weeks ago. There were still four, very seriously injured people trapped in the car...

Both the local air ambulance and the police chopper attended (after what felt like hours but must have been under 10 minutes from the call) and took the injured to local hospitals and they survived.

Given the extent of the injuries and the fact that the remaining four guys survived, I can honestly say that I saw the value of the HEMS chopper in a way I never wish to repeat...

There'll be a few more of my quids being chipped in mate !!

[racetart]

Good for you....racing59 a great cause....
and trust me.... the waxing won't hurt a bit....

really...


oh hang on you're a bloke .... hehehe

seriously though.... I know the motor racing brotherhood are fabulously generous.... having done some outrageous charity stuff myself...
good luck

[R59]

Racetart - thanks for the encouragement.

I can do pain. I suffer it every time I pay for parts for the car, or entry fees, or Al Weyman for shirts/graphics/etc....

Rob.

[Al Weyman]

At least I made a contribution Rob so not all bad eh? :-)

[R59]

Thanks Al,

It's great to see that some of my fellow competitors are happy to pledge their cash for what is a great cause, and something that far too many motorsport competitors have had need of, but is funded purely by charitable donations, not by government, nor by the lottery fund.

So far, the pledge "fund" is at just over £430, with a little under three weeks to go until "W-Day".

It costs around £850 per mission to keep an air ambulance helicopter in the air. So we're half way to saving a life.

That's a real life. Not some hypothetical media driven "charity life" like some other charities quote.

[R59]

Just over a week to go, and things are slow! Come on guys. We all hope we never need one, but it's a fact that the air ambulances have saved many of our fellow competitors in the past, and in the future.

Yeah, OK, I'm doing the pain - you can help with the gain!

Let's help keep these life saving whirlybirds in the air.

All donations gratefully accepted.

Rob.

[R59]

The deed is done.

Pain? - what pain? Pah!

(ow!)

For all those that pledge money towards this for the Air Ambulance charities, many many many thanks. You have helped save lives in this sceptred isle of ours. My wife (Shuz7) will contact you in due course to sort out collection.

For more information on your local air ambulance charity, go to www.airambulancecharities.co.uk

Remember that they are 100% funded by charitable donations. No government money, no lottery cash. And 80% of those donations come from pensioners - isn't that terrible - when most of their "work" is for road accidents, or remote locations where able bodied wage earning people are their "customers" (ie: people who can afford to make donations, unlike the pensioners)

Again, thanks. (it was fun - honest!)

Rob.