Five-day rally raises £18k so children can receive education

A charity’s banger rally from Maidstone to Monaco raised £ 18,000 for Ugandan preschools.

The 2,000-mile five-day dash to the south of France through eight countries was the fifth annual race hosted by the Parenta Trust.

Among those taking part were Paul and Rowena Carlton, parents of former Parenta marketing manager Dan, who died from non-Hodgkin lymphoma in December 2016.

Founder of the Trust and Parenta Group chief executive Allan Presland said: “We’ve built four pre-schools and commissioned our fifth, giving over 800 underprivileged children the opportunity to gain an education, with much of the funding raised through our previous rallies.”

The fifth pre-school will be named after Dan in memory of his fundraising efforts. He visited Uganda with the char- ity and decided to sponsor a girl on his return to the UK.

Mr Presland said: “This new school, which will look after up to 200 orphaned and disadvantaged children, is a fitting tribute to our friend and former colleague Dan.”

The charity Fields of Life works with communities in East Africa and joined forces with the Trust for the rally.

Debbie Cameron, its head of development and fundraising, said:“It’s always such a great atmosphere when the cars set off from Maidstone. While those taking part have great fun, they’re giving up valuable time to help us to bring quality education to children and young people in East Africa.” Breast Cancer Kent celebrated some of their top fundraisers in a ceremony at Leeds Castle on Monday.

Several companies took up the “£1,000 Challenge” to support breast cancer patients in Kent, and were all honoured at the function by trustees from Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Hospital Trust.

The three which raised the most were presented with an engraved award.

In first was Business Legacy Ltd, which also runs the Kent Women in Business Awards, and raised £5,400 from award dinners, raffles and donations.

In second were Leeds Castle staff who did a sponsored trek up Snowdon, raising £4,100. And third was the Lingerie Department at Marks and Spencer, Bluewater, who held a bra fitting and breast cancer awareness evening, raising just over £2,000.