Ken and Sporting Bears charity fund raise in Birmingham UK

Ken Graham our brilliant chapter coordinator for Scotland, has sent us his report from the NEC Classic Car Show in Birmingham UK.

“I’ve just spent two days at the NEC Classic Car Show in Birmingham on my first event with the Sporting Bears, who I joined earlier this year having seen them operating at CarFest North and at various other events.

“Many of you may be aware of the ‘Sporting Bears’, but if not I’ll explain the concept. The ‘Bears’ are owners of all sorts of cars, ranging from ‘Fergus’ my Figaro, Mini Metros and Citroen 2CVs, up to Bentleys, Rolls Royces, Ferraris, Mustangs, Lamborghinis and many more!

“Owners give their time, cars and fuel free of charge and offer roughly a 10 mile ‘Dream Ride’ in their car in return for a ‘minimum donation’ set for the car.

“Set donations range from about £15/20 up to £120 per drive (I’ll leave you to decide which cars are which cost!!)… all of which is to raise money for children’s charities throughout the UK!

“Also, in addition to the drivers giving their time etc, the NEC give the space free and an Insurance Company covers their Public Liability Insurance meaning 100% of all donations go to local children’s charities.

“Drivers are all disclosure checked as there is the potential for children and/or vulnerable adults being driven in the cars.

“I had a quiet day on Friday with just one drive in the afternoon, but that allowed me to observe the Bears operation and also chat to the public about the concept and encourage them to get involved & donate.

“Saturday was a little different – I got the ‘You’ve got a ride’ phone call from the volunteer admin team about 11am and set off.

“Returning to the hall I looked to park up, only to be told ‘No, you’ve got another ride’!

“This happened again when I got back from that ride too – three rides in a row with another two in the afternoon!! So, over the two days I raised about £125 with ‘Fergus’!!

“On the Saturday alone the ‘Bears’ raised over £18,600 in Dream Rides for the 4 charities!!

“As a classic car owner my motivation in joining the Bears was simply to give something back for all the joy I’ve had over the years.”

If you’d like more information on Sporting Bears please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the club or visit the Sporting Bears website.

Thanks Ken for your fantastic report, and for being part of this wonderful charity fundraising effort!

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