Bexhill 100 Club donates an amazing £24,000 to children’s charities

The Bexhill 100 Motoring Club hit its ambitious target of raising at least £20,000 for local charities by the year 2020.
Bexhill 100 charities donations SUS-200302-095439001Bexhill 100 charities donations SUS-200302-095439001
Bexhill 100 charities donations SUS-200302-095439001

In fact the hard-working team exceeded that and raised an impressive £24,000 which will be shared between Charity for Kids and Glyne Gap School.

Cheques were handed over at a special presentation night on Friday January 31.

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Bexhill 100 Air Ambulance Cheque SUS-200302-104125001Bexhill 100 Air Ambulance Cheque SUS-200302-104125001
Bexhill 100 Air Ambulance Cheque SUS-200302-104125001

Lynn Brailsford, from Bexhill 100, said: “It was an extra special night on the Bexhill 100 Motoring Club calendar, as it represented the official end of their 20-20-20 Project and gave them the opportunity to formally present two deserving local charities with their cheques.

Pauline Forward, one of our long-standing and highly thought of members sadly passed away after a short illness towards the end of last year.

She used to organise the raffle during our Club nights and was a keen supporter of Kent Sussex and Surrey Air Ambulance. Her daughters asked if they could do the raffle for our presentation evening in memory of her, and we presented her family with a commemorative plaque from the Air Ambulance to thank them for a donation of £1,290 in her memory. The raffle raised an additional £211 which will be sent to Air Ambulance also in memory of Pauline.”

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The 20-20-20 Project was the initiative of Club Treasurer, Charlie Rowland, who was inspired by the children of Glyne Gap School, when the Club took the Bexhill 100 Motoring Club Hot Rod Sleigh to visit them at Christmas 2018. 2019 was the Club’s 20th anniversary, and Charlie challenged the members to try to raise £20,000 by the year 2020, with Glyne Gap School and Charity for Kids (Rother) to benefit from the fund raising. It was a hard target, but the Club members decided to see if it could be done.

Plans were put in place, starting with a fund-raising quiz evening, followed by a garage sale which pushed the total fundraising to just over the first £1,000. The total then increased after a ‘Dream Rides’ fund-raising seafront display, and a summer garden party supported by local group, The Other Band, who donated their services free of charge.

Club supporter, musician Russell Noakes, raised money by entertaining visitors to their seafront Classic Car Shows and Anglo/Continental Market, and Stella Brennan-Wright, the owner of The Old Bathing Station also raised money for the cause, along with several Bexhill 100 members who collected money individually.

The Club’s main event of the year, the Classic and Custom Car Show on August Bank Holiday Monday turned out to be a record-breaking show and, combined with the profits from the raffle of a child-sized replica BMWi8 car, the target was exceeded. The Club decided to combine the profits from the two Anglo/Continental Street Markets which brought the final total to £24,000.

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Chris Speck, Chairman of Bexhill 100 Motoring Club thanked everyone who contributed to the 20-20-20 Project, and asked the Mayor of Bexhill, Cllr Kathy Harmer to present the two charities each with their cheques of £12,000.

Veronique Pullen, Secretary of Glyne Gap School thanked the Club for their wonderful support and said that the money would be used towards the cost of an outdoor gym for their older pupils.

Simon Elford, on behalf of Charity for Kids (Rother) thanked Bexhill 100 for their generous support and said that the money will provide 11 children with equipment to make everyday life easier and also will enable two further families with wellbeing grants to make a difference to their lives. He added that the applications ranged from £150 to £4,500 and will go towards equipment like walkers and wheelchairs which would not usually be available on the National Health.

Chris Speck thanked all of the Club members and supporters for their magnificent backing for the 20-20-20 project, which brings the monies raised by the Club for local charities and good causes during the past 15 years to slightly under £100,000 which the Club hope to exceed during the coming year.

Picture by Jeff Penfold