A charity drive through ten European countries sponsored by Briggs Equipment has raised more than £140,000 for SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity.
Briggs Defence, the specialist division of the Cannock-based engineering services, asset management and equipment supply company, was both a team and main event sponsor of this year’s record-breaking Rally for Heroes.
Gary Clements of Briggs Defence said: “Rally for Heroes really is an epic undertaking. Organising some 60 vehicles and more than a hundred people takes a lot of hard work and all the participants are volunteers who fund the trip themselves.
“We’re delighted that this year’s charity drive exceeded all expectations and raised such a huge sum for SSAFA.”
The 2018 event generated £140,235, easily exceeding the fundraising target. Setting off from London’s Horse Guards Parade on August 2, the teams covered 3,000 miles (5,000 km) in ten days, travelling through France, Switzerland, Italy, Venice, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Austria, Germany and Luxembourg before returning to the UK.
Every five miles of the route is driven in memory of a serviceman or woman who has died in combat since the start of the Afghanistan conflict.
This year the Rally included a special stop at the Los Rosales Center for children and young people with special needs in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, where each team handed over a shoebox filled with crayons, paper, colouring books and teddy bears.
Contract development manager Jamie Secker, co-driver of the Briggs Defence team, said: “Rally for Heroes was the most amazing experience. We struggled at times in the intense heat, but the scenery was stunning and everywhere we went the locals were genuinely interested in us and supportive of what we were trying to achieve. The warm welcome we received at the orphanage was a highlight of the trip.”
Rally for Heroes is a biennial event and has raised in excess of £525,000 for British military charities since 2010.
SSAFA has been supporting serving Regulars and Reserves and veterans of the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force since 1885 and Rally for Heroes is its biggest single fundraising initiative.
