Charity innovation by students past and present: U Rally

If you’re a thrill-seeker and interested in taking part in a foreign adventure this summer, then a charity car rally might be just the thing for you.

U Rally was founded by Jonathan Sobczyk, a former Durham student, and he is keen to involve students in his exciting project.

After graduating, Sobczyk bought a car on eBay for £380 and drove it to Mongolia as part of the Mongol Rally, a fun and daring car race which raises money for charity. Along with two hundred other vehicles, Sobczyk and a friend drove 10,000 miles through seven mountain ranges, three deserts and fourteen countries.

Inspired by this experience, Sobczyk decided to set up his own charity car race, U Rally. He explains it as “essentially a mad jaunt across the continent where teams compete with each other along the way by completing certain challenges, from masquerading as a tourist guide in Stockholm to running a stall serving Earl Grey to the masses in Moscow’s Red Square”.

Sobczyk has long been interested in charity work and last year, worked in Uganda  for PEAS (Promoting Equality in African Schools), a UK charity which helps widen access to education by building and maintaining low fee paying secondary schools across Africa.

U Rally’s website is now live. For more information and to sign up, visit www.urally.org