Farnham friends to drive £300 banger 1,400 miles to Benidorm for baby loss charity

Four friends are preparing to take on a 1,400-mile banger rally to raise money for a charity supporting families who have suffered the loss of a baby.

Dill, Mike, Pete and Robbie, who know each other through drinking in Aldershot and Farnham, will set off from Farnham on September 6, driving to Dover before crossing to Dunkirk and continuing through Rouen, Bordeaux and Zaragoza to reach Benidorm on September 13.

The team will be among more than 200 cars taking part in the nationwide Rat Run event, organised by Dean from Cleethorpes. Entrants must buy a car for no more than £600, but the Farnham team picked up a 2004 Vauxhall Astra for just £300.

The idea came about after two of the group, who had signed up for an Isle of Wight walk, decided a road rally sounded more fun. They are raising money for Sands United Farnborough, part of the stillbirth and neonatal death charity Sands, which the team support through a connection to the charity's football team.

Local garage owners Jonathan and Jane, of Hawthorne's, have serviced the car ahead of the journey, while Farnham-based street artist The Flat Cap Artist, known for his mural at Headley Pavilion and a recent lion trail in Portsmouth, is hand-painting the car ahead of the trip.

Dill said: "We can't wait, we are buzzing that we are actually doing it. They do various events throughout the year with places going fast for the one for next September. They've got another one in March and we're hoping that they're going to do one up in Scotland on the North Coast 500."

The team's GoFundMe page, set up by James Mepham, has already raised more than £2,200 towards a £2,600 target from 85 donors.

To sponsor the team, visit gofundme.com/f/dills-pete-mike-robbie-rat-race-uk-to-spain