Vines come first in the race to raise money for The Dame Vera Lynn Trust

On Sunday 29 November Vines of Gatwick took part in a Go Karting endurance race for the Dame Vera Lynn Trust.  We sent our best racers to represent us in the race at TeamSport Karting in Crawley, which saw Ian Smith, Adrian Houslop and Dean Eaton compete against twelve other teams in a 2-½ hour race to take first place.

As further support we provided a MINI, which was put on display in the TeamSport foyer, for people to buy tickets guessing the number of balloons in the MINI.  The prize for the winner was the use of the MINI for a weekend.

TeamSport Crawley were celebrating adopting The Dame Vera Lynn Trust as their chosen charity of the year by running an adrenalin packed team racing event at their brand new indoor racing track. Local businesses around West Sussex were invited to enter a team of drivers in to the indoor go-karting event.
Last year, thanks to generous donations, The Dame Vera Lynn Trust, a charity based in West Sussex, managed to raise £450,000, a figure that is needed to provide the Trusts vital service, particularly as the Trust receives no statutory funding.



The Dame Vera Lynn Trust is a national charity based in Five Oaks, West Sussex. The Charity provides care, education and therapy for children and their families with cerebral palsy. The trust wants to change the lives of far more children and their families. Their ambition is to be able to supply ALL necessary help to families with young children affected by cerebral palsy, and to ensure everyone is made aware of the existence of their service.

Ian Smith, our Group Corporate Sales Director said: ‘’Vines Group is delighted to be associated with TeamSport Crawley and The Dame Vera Lynn Trust. It was a real eye opener to see the number of people supporting the charity and taking part in this karting event. The competition for a ‘MINI for the Weekend’ raised the profile of the event and added towards the overall total for the charity. We look forward to assisting the Dame Vera Lynn Trust in the future’’.

Altogether TeamSport helped the Trust to raise £2,300 at this first sponsored event.  General Manager Steve Gaskin said ‘It was great to see local businesses in West Sussex taking part in this event and donating lots of money to this local charity. TeamSport Crawley really wanted to raise money for children this year. We run a number of junior activities at our tracks and see a lot of children & families join in our activities. We want to help those disadvantaged children who may never be able to take part or visit a go-karting track like ours in whatever way we could. Hopefully we can help the Trust raise even more money with future karting events planned for the New Year’.

No previous racing experience is needed and you don’t even need a driving license to take part at TeamSport Crawley! For further information on future charity events held at TeamSport please call 08444 108 108.

For any enquiries or to find out more about how Vines Group can assist with BMW & MINI cars please contact Ian Smith or any member of the Vines Group Corporate team on 0845 673 2211.

Labels: MINI, MINI for the Weekend, TeamSport Crawley, Vines of Gatwick