Two days - two destinations. The annual Pink Car Rally is ready to roll its pink positivity across UK roads again, on the 7th & 8th September.
The Pink Car Rally was created as a 5-year awareness and fundraising initiative for the Little Princess Trust charity, which gives 'real hair' wigs to children and young people across the UK and Ireland, culminating in the John O'Groats to Land's End rally in 2012.
Sali Gray, creator and organiser of the Pink Car Rally explained "We raised 16,000 last year, which would have been the perfect way to end the pink project, but two of our regular Pinkies had a horrific year and missed the rally, so this one is for them." Sisters, Nadine and Tania had been Pinkie participants in every rally, but a few months before the last rally Nadine - who was 22 years old and 26 weeks pregnant - discovered she had cancer, which meant she couldn't commit to the epic 6-day event. With Nadine's encouragement, her sister Tania decided to drive her pink car from Nottingham to Webbs of Wychbold, to meet the Pinkies on Leg 5 of the rally. She had only managed to travel a short distance on the M1, when an out-of-control car careered into her, launching her into a lorry, which in turn catapulted her car into the central reservation. Thankfully Tania and her friend survived the horrific crash, but missed the rally rendezvous. Sali was so shocked by these events that she pledged to bring the rally to the girls' home town of Nottingham this year.
On Saturday 7th September, the pink parade will leave Hereford and head for Kings Mill Hospital, Nottingham, arriving there around 4pm to a pink fanfare. On Sunday 8th, the pink participants will travel from Lincoln to Peterborough City Hospital, stopping at Springfields Shopping Outlet at Spalding on the way. The Pinkies are aiming to raise 10,000 this year and donations can be made via JustGiving http://www.justgiving.com/teams/pink-car-rally-2013 Sali said "If we can raise 10,500 we will be able to provide wigs to 30 children, which would be amazing. The hardest challenge for us is finding pink cars to join us."
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has confirmed that at the end of 2012, there were 9914 pink cars on UK roads, with 4400 being registered last year alone of which a staggering 1674 were pink Peugeot 208s. "With nearly 10,000 pink cars in the UK, our rally could be massive", explained Sali, "but data protection law prevents us from being able to establish who owns them. We have to rely on word of mouth and social networking." It certainly seems to be working - the Pink Car Rally Facebook page has over 3000 'likes' from 20 countries and Sali has received expressions of interest for Pink Car Rallies in Canada, America and Germany. "I would be more than happy to help organise a Pink Car Rally in another country", enthused Sali. "I feel very honoured that so many people like the idea. I've been passionate about pink cars since I bought mine and it's lovely to find like-minded people".
The Little Princess Trust charity received the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service last year - the MBE for volunteer groups - a fact that Sali is very proud of. "This small charity relies on donations to fund the beautiful 'real hair' wigs they give to children and young people. I love helping a charity where I feel the work I do can make a difference". Sali and her team of Pinkies have raised in excess of 40,000 for the charity to date, which has funded 114 wigs.
Donations can be made via http://www.justgiving.com/Sali-Gray-2013-Pink-Car-Rally
People wishing to participate in the rally can contact Sali on 01452 618899 or by email Sali@business-advancement.co.uk
