The Italian Job inspired motor rally heading up north to avoid the corona virus

Northern Italy, vintage Minis and miles of open road. It’s not just the plot of a certain Michael Caine classic, it is the winning formula behind The Italian Job Rally, a charity motoring event which celebrated its 30th anniversary last year.

Rather than giving Lamborghini-driving mobsters the slip, drivers on this Italian Job are trying to raise money for disadvantaged children by embarking on a nine day trip across Italy. Finishing off in Turin, they’ll absorb the films most iconic landscapes and sit down for dinner at some of the most secluded eateries in the country.

At least, that is what usually happens. Swayed by the threat of coronavirus, and of the size of last year’s 30th anniversary ride, organiser Freddie St George has brought this year’s event back to Britain. He said: “With everything happening in Italy at the moment, we thought people might not be comfortable travelling.”

Freddie, from Hove, started the rally with his mother Giulia back in 1989 and sees it as a natural extension of his interests. He said: “I’d always been nuts about the film, I had owned Minis and it just seemed an absolutely perfect, simple circle to actually complete. We thought ‘we’ve all got Minis, let’s do this”.

Despite the last minute change, Freddie hopes this year’s “Yorkshire Job” will have the same trailblazing energy as always. It will be a four day staycation, starting on October 30 and ending on November 2, which will not only give jobbers a chance to see England at its best, but which will also serve as a preview for The Italian Job proper. Freddie said:”it will be a classic Italian Job event, but in the UK.

“I really hope the people who come with us this year, join us on next year’s trip.”

And what a trip it is. Previous rallies have taken motorists to exclusive Grand Prix tracks, picturesque villages, secluded eateries, and all of the film’s most iconic locales.

It is a winning formula that Freddie, his mother and their team of volunteers have built up, tweaked and evolved over the event’s 30 year history.

Freddie said: “It’s like a snowball that, once it starts rolling, just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. Every year since 1990, we’ve found ourselves doing the Italian Job and loving it.”

Freddie’s enthusiasm is shared by the motorists and foodies who head out on rallies with him. Over three decades, The Italian Job has picked up more than its fair share of regulars, cultivating a sense of camaraderie that brings jobbers back rally after rally.

Freddie said: “We’ve had a few people that met on the Italian Job, get together and have babies. Some have got married. It’s not really that sort of event, it just happens.

“It’s because we have a nice, tight group of people. Within a day or two, everyone knows everybody. So there’s a real sense of fraternity.”

Before anything else, Freddie thinks of the rally as a fund raiser, a way of helping unfortunate children. Between this year’s Yorkshire Job and next year’s mini meet rally, he hopes to bring the rally’s lifetime donations to £3 million. No mean feat, even when last year’s 30th anniversary event raised £150,000 for children’s charity Buttle UK. To get there, participating teams take part in a lot of community fundraising. Freddie said: “Some cars come fully stickered up from suppliers or local companies and make their money like that.”

Though it has found a recipe for success, there’s a lot more to The Italian Job than brand-name power and the call of the open road. For Freddie, it taps into a uniquely British sense of philanthropy.

He said: “The British have a fantastic sense of charity and benevolence, of the idea of helping somebody less fortunate than themselves. As fundraisers we lead the world in terms of the things that we do, in terms of showing that we do care and we do want to give back. And I think all those things come together into the Italian Job.”

To participate in or to find out more about The Italian Job rally, visit their website: www.italianjob.com Or, to donate to Buttle.UK, the charity The Italian Job sponsors, visit Buttleuk.org