Charity HEROES
Craig Cheetham on why charity doesn’t have to begin at home
With the cost of living increasing by the day, inflation showing no signs of relenting and fuel prices going through the roof, it would be very easy for all of us to adopt a ‘charity begins at home’ mentality. But it’s at times like this when good causes need more support than ever because their overheads are rocketing upwards, too and charity income often plummets when household finances are squeezed.
But it seems that the classic car world’s generosity knows no bounds. There are some truly wonderful people out there and every penny you raise goes a long way towards helping out those less fortunate.
Mentioned in dispatches this month, then, are the good folk at Classic Car Auctions, who donated the proceeds of all of their catalogue sales at the Practical Classics Classic Car & Restoration Show to the Disasters Emergency Committee to aid humanitarian work in Ukraine.
It’s hats-off, too, to Keith Stewart and his friends in Bedfordshire, who will be raising funds for the same cause in a cheap and cheerful array of down-at-heel classics – we’ll be chatting to Keith in these pages shortly.
Talking of down-at-heel classics, our lead story this year focuses on Bangers4ben, which has raised more than £250k in the past ten years for the Automotive Industry Benevolent fund (to give it its full title). A lot of PC readers are connected to the automotive sector in one way or another – working on cars for a living, repairing or selling them. If that’s you, then you may not realise is that BEN is there for you if you or your family encounter unexpected hardship. You don’t need to be a member of anything, just someone who works with vehicles.
Car people look after their own – BEN is the proof of that, and Bangers4ben is one of the most entertaining things you’ll ever do should you get chance.
If you or your friends have got anything planned to raise money for charity, we absolutely want to hear about it and talk about it in these pages. Please drop us a line at practicalclassics@bauermedia. co.uk and we’ll help you in any way we can.
‘Car people like BEN look after their own’