Celebrities take to the track to help raise almost £100,000 for the NSPCC
Howard Lake | 8 March 2013 | News
Yesterday [7 March] saw celebrities including former Formula 1 driver Mark Blundell, rugby star Austin Healey and boxer Joe Calzaghe take to the track to raise almost £100,000 for the NSPCC by taking part in The Circuit – an exclusive event featuring fast cars and action-packed racing.
The event, which took place at the PalmerSport Bedford Autodrome, featured six teams led by celebrity captains who battled it out on the track, all in aid of the NSPCC. Competition on the track was fierce, with teams racing each other to take the chequered flag and the title of champions of The Circuit 2013. In the end the team led by Austin Healey and Formula 1 racing driver Karun Chandhok was victorious, taking home the trophy and the coveted title.
Guests experienced an adrenaline-fuelled day of racing, putting pedal to the metal on purpose-built tracks behind the wheel of top-of-the-range cars including a Caterham 7 Superlight, Ariel Atom, BMW M3 GTP and a single seat Formula Jaguar.
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Throughout the day, guests were also invited to bid on a range of exclusive auction lots, including high octane super-rides in a two-seater McLaren MP4-12C with professional racing drivers Rob Huff, Tiff Needell and Tim Mullen which prompted heated bidding and eventually fetched almost £5,000.
Speaking about the event, former Formula 1 driver Mark Blundell, said: “We had a fantastic day of racing, with guests pushing a range of high performance cars to their limits, all to help raise vital funds for the NSPCC. There was a lot of friendly rivalry out there on the track with professional racing drivers taking on celebrities and guests in a race to be crowned Champions of The Circuit 2013. It’s been a real privilege to be involved in this event, and I’m delighted that we’ve been able to raise almost £100,000 for the NSPCC – a charity I’m proud to support”.
All funds raised from the event will help the NSPCC to protect vulnerable children through its projects and services including ChildLine – the UK’s free, confidential 24-hour helpline and online service for children and young people.
To find out more about the work of the NSPCC and how you can get involved, visit www.nspcc.org.uk/getinvolved.
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Notes to Editors:
For further information or celebrity images please contact:
Helen Little or Sarah Dade at the NSPCC on 020 7825 1379 / 020 7825 1318 or he**********@ns***.uk / sa********@ns***.uk.
About the NSPCC:
The NSPCC is the UK’s leading children's charity specialising in child protection. Our vision is to end cruelty to children in the UK and we make a difference for all children by standing up for their rights, listening to them, helping them when they need us and by making them safe. The NSPCC runs projects and services across the United Kingdom and Channel Islands to help vulnerable children. We also provide ChildLine, the UK’s free, confidential 24-hour helpline and online service for children and young people and a helpline for adults who are worried about a child or want advice.
If you have concerns about a child or young person, you can call the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, text 88858 or visit www.nspcc.org.uk.
Children and young people can contact ChildLine on 0800 1111 or visit www.childline.org.uk.
Photo: Celebrity team captains at The Circuit for NSPCC. © Theodore Wood Photography
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.