‘Cheap Thrills’ road trip to raise money for the Mental Health Foundation
A group of enthusiastic petrol heads is going on a tour of Scotland to raise money for the Mental Health Foundation.
The group of ten is embarking on the ‘Cheap Thrills’ tour which will take them from Glasgow to Isle of Skye, then over the NC500 before finishing in Newcastle on Monday 3 October.
In the style of a Top Gear challenge, each team of two buys a cheap car within a £1000 budget for the trip, which is then sold after completing the 2000+ mile trip with the sponsorships, collections and proceeds collected along the way also donated to charity. The challenge is completely self-funded with all money raised donated to the Mental Health Foundation. The group is hoping to raise £5000.
The team are: Ahsan, Qasim, Amir, and Khuram from Manchester; Atif, Asif, Asim, Aaron and Zehn from Glasgow; and Nafeel from Livingston.
Ahsan said: “We’re all car fanatics and thought it would be fun to do a Top Gear style cheap car trip and combine it with raising money for charity. We’re really looking forward to taking in the beautiful roads and scenery of Scotland once again and meeting lots of friendly, generous Scottish people!
“The part of the trip I’m most looking forward to is Day 1 in Glasgow when we all see each other’s cars for the very first time. They will be uniquely wrapped and we’ll all be really interested to see who gets the best car!
“We are choosing to support the Mental Health Foundation because many of us have close friends and family who have struggled with poor mental health, and we want to help make a difference. We really appreciate what the charity does, and we want to help its work to prevent mental health problems in any way we can.”
This is the third time that the team of friends and family from Manchester and Scotland have taken on a ‘Cheap Thrills’ epic road trip to raise money for a good cause, with previous trips taking place in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Scotland.
Asim said: “Life can be challenging, so I want people to know that it’s good to talk about how they’re feeling before it all gets on top of them. It feels like social media can also make people feel inadequate, as it looks like everyone is always having a great time. It can put pressure on people to live up to expectations of having the best clothes or most expensive cars, but the part of this trip that I’m most looking forward to is spending time with my friends and family. I want to show people that’s what really counts – having meaningful connections with people.”
The Mental Health Foundation works to deliver good mental health for all. We carry out research to better understand the causes of poor mental health and how to prevent it, demonstrate solutions through community programmes across the UK and call on governments and decision-makers to make the big changes we need to empower everyone to live well. The Foundation is also the home of Mental Health Awareness Week which runs in May every year.
Lynne Mackenzie, Fundraising Officer at Mental Health Foundation, said: “We are delighted that Ahsan, Asim and the Cheap Thrills team are supporting the Mental Health Foundation. As a charity, we rely on donations from our amazing fundraisers and supporters to continue our work to prevent poor mental health. We hope the group has an amazing adventure this weekend and we thank them for all their hard work in organising the event and raising much appreciated funds.”
Follow the Cheap Thrills team on Instagram @cheapthrills_ig and donations can be made here.
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