Fundraising in the fast lane

A motorsport-themed charity dinner raised over £25,000 for St John Ambulance Buckinghamshire on Saturday 10 July.

The event was hosted by the High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, Countess Howe, at her Penn House residence in Amersham. The Countess, who is also President of St John Ambulance Buckinghamshire, was the driving force behind the event, which featured an impressive array of classic motor vehicles once owned and raced by her relative and motor-racing legend Earl Francis Howe.

Impressive line up of vehicles

Guests were treated to a display of some of the former Earl's most famous racing cars including the MG K3, which he drove to victory in the 1933 Italian road race the Mille Miglia. The collection displayed on the front lawns of Penn House also included a vintage ambulance belonging to St John Ambulance dating back to 1929.

Event-goers were offered an opportunity to look 'under the hood' of the extraordinary selection and discuss the finer details of the driving, maintenance and ownership of such cars as the MG K3, the Earl's Alfa Romeo 2300 8C, Bugatti Type 43 Grand Sport and Type 57S Atalante.

Clive Harrington, County Director for St John Ambulance Buckinghamshire helped to organise the event and said, 'We are delighted with how the evening went and to have raised such a staggering amount of money is fantastic. To get all of the cars together for one evening took a huge amount of coordination with their owners but our guests were really wowed by them so it was well worth it.'

Putting the funds to use

The money raised will help volunteers to continue to be the difference in local Buckinghamshire communities by providing first aid at public events, developing young people and passing on their vital lifesaving skills to others.

'We have a number of specific projects for which we are currently trying to raise funds in order to expand our services to communities throughout the county. However it was agreed in advance that that funds from the raffle will be used to meet an urgent appeal from our colleagues in St John Ambulance, Zimbabwe, for a special premature baby incubator for the 4x4 ambulance.'

St John Ambulance has over 800 volunteers in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes who last year treated over 600 casualties at public events in the county.