Craig Cheetham on good things from humble beginnings
From small acorns, big trees sometimes grow – and for anyone involved in charity fundraising, those little acorns make all the difference. So this month I make no apologies for taking my proverbial hat off to a lad who’s local to me. Michael Dunstan is a member of the recently formed Huntingdon Classic Car Club (of which I’m also a member) but he’s also the brains behind the Drive ‘n’ Dine 4 Cancer event at the Pike and Eel Hotel near St Ives, Cambs (facebook.com/ Drivendine4cancer). Michael launched the event in 2022 in memory of his dad, an avid classic car enthusiast who lost his battle to the disease in 2020.
In its first year, Drive ‘n’ Dine raised over £3000 for MacMillan, and is expected to double that in 2023, after a jam-packed event at the start of July which saw the car parks packed with classic, modern, performance and modified cars. There was food, there was merchandise, but the one thing that really stood out for me was the sheer amount of support the event received from local people and businesses, from scrap merchants to MoT specialists and tuning companies – all joining in with their own cars and raffling their services for the charity.
‘This was a reminder of the kindness out there’
In these difficult times, it’s very easy to get frustrated or to become affected by the negativity that spews out of our hand-held screens. But come along to an event like Michael’s and you realise the true spirit of human beings being human. We all need a bit of that to remind us of the kindness that still exists out there – and car people are very good at it.
If you, your car club or your friends have got anything planned to raise money for charity, we absolutely want to hear about it and talk about it in these pages. Please drop us a line at practicalclassics@bauermedia.co.uk and we’ll help you in any way we can.
FOCUSING ON...
Jubilant festival funds youth initiative and war aid
Motorin-grelated charities were very much front-of-mind as Bicester Heritage marked its 10th anniversary on Father’s Day weekend.
Over 15,000 visitors went to the historic motoring venue during the weekend of June 17-18 for ‘Flywheel’ – an event celebrating both wings and wheels and marking a decade of the former RAF bomber base being used as a hub for historic vehicles.
There were around 2000 visitors under the age of 14, thanks to 1500 tickets being given to local schools and youth charities by Bicester Heritage’s charity partner StarterMotor. StarterMotor exists to encourage younger people into the historic vehicle industry and promote our automotive heritage to a new generation, with a fleet of project vehicl
