RAC Future Car Challenge supports Help for Heroes
Private Derek Derenalagi joined Bryn and Emma Parry, CEO and co-founders of Help for Heroes at Tedworth House on Friday as the Royal Automobile Club pledged that their RAC Future Car Challenge would support the charity for wounded service personnel.
Outside Tedworth House, which is due to become one of five Personnel Recovery Centres, Vauxhall’s Ampera, an Extended Range Electric Vehicle, was ready to demonstrate its state of the art technology for everyday driving offering an up to 360-mile electric range. Vauxhall, which is also supporting Help for Heroes, is delighted to make the prototype Ampera available to Private Derek Derenalagi to compete in this year’s RAC Future Car Challenge.
The Ampera will be in UK showrooms from early 2012 and is one of the many advanced low-emission vehicles due to take part in this year’s RAC Future Car Challenge.
In addition, an RAC Motoring Services recovery vehicle represented the event’s title sponsors.
Ben Cussons, Chairman of the Royal Automobile Club’s Motoring Committee was on hand to pledge support for the charity which has raised over £100 million since its inception in 2007. He commented: “The Royal Automobile Club’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run has supported the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal for many years, and with huge interest in our new RAC Future Car Challenge we saw it as an ideal way to contribute to the amazing work that Help for Heroes carries out.”
Private Derenalagi lost both legs when his vehicle was destroyed by an IED in 2007, but his rehabilitation has helped him to walk again on prosthetic legs and he is just 12 months away from completing his goal of competing in the 2012 Paralympics. “‘Help for Heroes is a fantastic charity” explained Derek. “ What they have done to raise the awareness of wounded soldiers like myself and raise awareness of what we do here in the UK and abroad and to be associated with Help for Heroes, I’m just thankful.”
Vauxhall has already raised in excess of £140,000 and, in addition, assists the charity with four support vehicles, as well as a specially-adapted Insignia Sports Tourer for Private Derenalagi.
The 2011 RAC Future Car Challenge on Saturday 5 November will see some of the world’s most advanced low-energy vehicles compete over a 60-mile route from Brighton’s Madeira Drive to Pall Mall in London, a reverse of the course taken by competitors on the Veteran Car Run. The winner will be the vehicle using the least energy over the whole route.
Help for Heroes and Tedworth House
Help for Heroes was founded by Bryn and Emma Parry in October 2007 and has raised £94.2m. It is strictly non-political and non-critical and believes that anybody who volunteers to serve in a time of war is a hero.
Tedworth House is to be one of the five Personnel Recovery Centres (PRCs) that are being built at major garrison towns across the UK and is part of a wider Defence Recovery Capability – a partnership between the MoD and The Royal British Legion. Help for Heroes (H4H) took over the historic Tedworth House in the garrison town of Tidworth, Hampshire and work has begun to turn the house into a recovery and assessment centre for wounded servicemen and servicewomen.
Vauxhall and the British Armed Forces
Since its beginnings in 1903, Vauxhall has a history of close partnership with the British armed forces. It provided vehicles in both the First and Second World Wars, and today it provides discounts and tax-free offers to serving or retired members of HM forces and their immediate family members. Vauxhall has donated four support vehicles to Help for Heroes as part of its partnership with the charity, all of which are decorated in the charity's livery and support the many fundraising events they attend. So far, Vauxhall has raised over £140,000 for Help for Heroes, which is used by the charity to help those wounded in Britain’s current conflicts.
Vauxhall and the RAC Future Car Challenge
Vauxhall keenly supported the inaugural RAC Future Car Challenge last year and has already entered three prototype Ampera E-REV (Extended Range Electric Vehicle) in this year’s event. One of the cars will have full Help for Heroes livery and be driven by Private Derek Derenalagi.
Private Derek Derenalagi
On 19 July 2007, Derek was in Helmand Province, clearing a helicopter landing site and went up to high ground to get a clear view of the area. As his vehicle reversed to park, it hit an IED and exploded. Back in Camp Bastion, Derek was pronounced dead but amazingly, one of the doctors saw a slight pulse movement. He was operated on and then taken back to the UK. Although he lost both his legs, Derek plays sitting volleyball, and puts the shot. He is planning to compete in the 2012 Paralympics.
The Royal Automobile Club's Weekend of Motoring
The weekend of 4/5/6 November 2011 will see a feast of Royal Automobile Club motoring events in the very heart of London. From around 10.30 on Saturday, nearly 100 21st Century vehicles will be arriving in Waterloo Place, Pall Mall, having completed the 60-mile RAC Future Car Challenge route from Madeira Drive, Brighton. After the formal finish in Pall Mall, they will be on display in Regent Street in front of an estimated 250,000 audience. The future cars will join around 100 19th Century vehicles, due to compete the following day in the Club’s Veteran Car Run. The FCC is open to electric, hybrid, hydrogen and low-emission internal combustion engine cars and light-commercial vehicles. Last year’s entry list included one-off prototypes and future production vehicles from manufacturers such as Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Nissan, Vauxhall, BMW, Skoda and Volkswagen, as well as current production cars. The overall winner will be the car that uses the least amount of energy during the run from Brighton to London.
On Sunday (from 07:00hrs to 08:30hrs) more than 500 entrants will start the 2011 London to Brighton Veteran Car Run from Hyde Park. The Royal Automobile Club’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run supports the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal while the RAC Future Car Challenge supports Help for Heroes.
