Croxdale Fast Fit are proud to once again be supporting local Durham father and son team ‘Blood Brothers’ on their way to Benidorm in the 2022 ‘Benidorm or Bust’ challenge!
Father and son team Steven and Sam Laws and friend Kirsty Downham are taking part in the exciting event to raise funds for a great local charity – Northumbria Blood Bikes. Steven, from Newton Hall, a volunteer driver in his spare time - works for the charity to transport blood and other medical supplies across the region to help the health service.
Our Durham branch already look after the maintenance of some of the charity vehicles, as pictured.
Northumbria Blood bikes is a very important local charity that delivers a vital service. Read more about it here.
If you’d like to donate, please follow this link which goes to the page Kirsty set up directly:
Steven and Sam will be taking turns with the driving this year – no mean feat, with 1,500 miles to do in 4 days! Kirsty will be Chief Navigator, radio operator, photographer, mini-fridge technician, snack and moral support provider!
What's the challenge?
The ‘Benidorm or Bust’ challenge invites teams to purchase or use a vehicle of very low monetary value and drive the 1500 mile journey from Durham to Benidorm, in aid of charities of their choice. Teams enter from all around the UK, there will be over 100 UK teams going this year. The 2018 Benidorm or Bust event raised over £151,000!, up from the £100,000 in 2017. The event could not happen in eityher 2020 or 2021 due to Covid restrictions, making it even more exciting that this event is now back on the calendar once more - a truly fantastic achievement for all of the local UK charities the teams support and represent.
Kirsty added:
"We have been planning this the last few years, the teams have changed but we're finally doing it!
Were taking part in a 5 day drive from Dover to Benidorm, We have brought a cheap car and plan to sell it at the end to raise money for Northumbria Blood bikes. Northumbria Blood Bikes is a registered charity established by local volunteers to deliver essential blood and urgent medical supplies, out of hours, between hospitals and other healthcare sites in North East England.
We cover Darlington, Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle Upon Tyne City, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland. Those of you who donated on the virgin money we still thank you"
How did Croxdale Fast Fit help?
This being their third trip – Steven was going to have a hard time bettering last years’ car - a 2004 Ford Focus 1.6 LX that completed the journey with relative ease.
This time, it's been harder than ever before to secure a cheap but roadworthy car (due to the semiconductor shortage, the UK car market has gone crazy, everything is more expensive and there are very few genuine 'cheap' cars around now.
However, Steve’s managed to find a 1998 Honda Civic 1.5 LSi locally.
Croxdale Fast Fit gave the vehicle a health check in readiness. We were only too happy to help and took the vehicle into our workshop for a thorough check-up, as part of our safety inspection we rapaired and replaced some of the exhaust components, gave the engine fresh new oil and oil filter, replaced bulbs, cleaned up the weather-worn headlights
We found car was in a good general condition for the age but needed refreshing in a few key areas.
Who else helped?
We turned to our graphics supplier Premier Graphics for an eye-catching design to display the charity and sponsor logos, we’re sure you’ll agree it’s a striking design.
Steven got in touch with Succorfish who have fitted the vehicle with a tracker device, useful for security and also a visual tracking aid to view the progress.
What happens next?
The journey began at 8.30am on 9th May! All preparation is done and the guys are on their way
We’ll be keeping track of their progress with daily updates – so watch our Facebook and Instagram pages for more information!
Good Luck guys – all the very best for a safe journey from all at Croxdale Fast Fit!
Whether you're driving to Spain....or even Spennymoor – get your FREE vehicle health check from your local Croxdale Fast Fit Autocentre.
Summer is here – not just in Spain - so keep your cool and have your air conditioning system serviced at our Durham, Chester Le Street and Consett autocentres.
Links
Northumbria Blood Bikes website: www.northumbriabloodbikes.co.uk
The Benidorm or Bust Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Benidorm.or.bust/photos/?ref=page_internal
The Fast Fit Free Road Safety Report: www.croxdalefastfit.co.uk/what-we-do/the-croxdale-road-safety-report/
Premier Graphics and Signs Ltd: https://www.premiergraphicsandsigns.co.uk/