The Richard Burns Foundation (RBF) celebrated its launch by raising £50,000 during the Goodwood Festival of Speed (7-9 July 2006).
During the weekend, five World Rally Teams and nine World Rally Championship drivers entertained 150,000 spectators at the Festival of Speed in memory of 2001 World Rally Champion Richard Burns, who passed away last year. Among the drivers were three WRC champions: Colin McRae, Marcus Grönholm and Petter Solberg. In addition, nine cars from Richard’s career were on display and driven on the track by drivers including Markko Märtin, Andrew Cowan and Colin McRae.
Robert Reid, long-time co-driver for Richard Burns and Chief Executive of the Foundation, said: “We’re very happy with the way the launch went and how much money was raised and I’m pleased to say there are still donations coming in. Thank you to all who donated and to the 150 volunteers who gave their time and helped make the launch such a success.”
The Richard Burns Foundation aims to inspire and support people whose lives are affected by serious illness and injury. As a World Rally Champion, Richard used his energy and focus to make his dreams come true. When diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of 32, he used the same mental strength to fight his illness and live life to the fullest.
For its launch, the Foundation hosted the Youth Cancer Trust* (YCT) and six guests from the YCT were given a full rally experience in the rally cars alongside Markko Märtin and Subaru’s Chris Atkinson. The YCT is a charity that provides holidays for young adults living with cancer and its effort to supply young people with the energy and inspiration needed to sustain their fight against disease is a good illustration of the values backed by the RBF.
David Lapworth, who is Motorsport Director at Prodrive, has become Chairman of the RBF and was overwhelmed by the amount of support the Foundation received. “Our aim was for a successful launch with good exposure to get a sense of the level of support we might have. To be honest, we couldn’t have hoped for a better reaction as fans, drivers and Team Directors were all incredibly positive.
“We were also encouraged as on-the-spot donations significantly exceeded our and Goodwood’s expectations, which has highlighted that there is a great connection between the motorsport fans and the essence of the Foundation already. A lot of people made some incredibly nice comments and it has given us inspiration for moving forward with ideas for the charity.”
World Rally drivers that were in action during the 2006 Goodwood Festival of Speed included Petter Solberg, Chris Atkinson, Colin McRae, Marcus Grönholm, Mikko Hirvonen, Markko Märtin, Alister McRae, Martin Rowe and Gilles Panizzi. World Rally teams that ran cars at the event included Peugeot Sport, Mitsubishi Ralliart, Kizz-me Škoda World Rally Team, Subaru World Rally Team and BP-Ford World Rally Team.
The Richard Burns Foundation, which received official confirmation of its registration as a charity a few days before Goodwood, and Richard’s collection of cars were also present at the Rallyday 2006 at Castle Combe in Wiltshire on Saturday 22 July where the RBF also received incredible support (www.rallyday.com).
Supporting the Richard Burns Foundation is simple and donations can be made in one of three ways. Register your support online at www.RichardBurnsFoundation.com; Donate by mobile phone by sending a text with “RBF” to 82344 for a GB£2.50 donation (UK only)**; or send a donation by post to Richard Burns Foundation, PO Box 687, Oxford OX1 9LD, UK.
