Banger rally raises £100k for baby loss charity

The organiser of a continental charity car challenge said he was "lost for words" at having raised a further £130,000 in donations.

Carlos Baldry organised the Rust Bucket Rally, in which drivers motored from Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, to Oslo in Norway, and back again.

Eighty-three of the 85 old bangers that started the 2,500-mile (4,023 km) journey, finished it.

Drivers had to buy their car for £1,000 or less and raised funds for baby loss counselling charity Petals.

Speaking after the four-day adventure, which ended on Monday, Baldry said: "Thank you for believing in what we do, let's keep going. We're not going to stop now."

This year's edition of the challenge was the first time that donations had broken the £100,000 barrier since its first incarnation in 2014.

Baldry said the Rust Bucket Rally had now raised about £750,000 for charities since its inception.

He said: "I never thought we'd do this. Not in a million years. [To have raised] over £100,000... incredible.

"I don't know where to start. I'm never lost for words, but I really am."

This year's route saw participants journey through Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden enroute to Oslo.

As with previous editions, the convoy of cars returned to Wellingborough's Old Grammarians sports ground, where Baldry said they were welcomed back by friends and family armed with "silly string and water pistols".

The 2027 event has already been announced, with plans for the bangers to complete a route from Wellingborough to Budapest, Hungary.

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