Duchball Rally Shoreham-Ilfracombe 2011

Last year saw 7 teams (19 people) enter the 1st ever Duchball Rally, with numerous wild and outlandish creations taking part-from a Nissan primera turned into a A-Team tank, to a 20 year old Nova "chavmobile" completely covered in Burberry cloth! This year is set to be crazier than ever and anyone is welcome to join in and take part!

The Duchball rally 2011 kicks off in Shoreham in Sussex on Friday 29th of July. The Wacky Racers make two overnight stops for some crazy capers and fun before heading back to Ilfracombe for a warm welcome on Sunday 31st July and parking up at the clapping circle under Capstone Hill so everyone can admire the weird and wonderful wheels on display!  

Last year's antics saw the rallyers make stopovers in Weymouth in Penzance and included some pretty innovative and memorable fundraising methods! One of the challenges faced by the intrepid contenders included having your picture taken naked next to a bar! Raffle tickets were also sold and fancy dress collections made by trawling the bars and in total £4000 was raised for Action Duchenne. Another of the key aims of the rally is to raise awareness Duchenne muscular dystrophy and over 5000 flyers about this fatal disease were distributed along the route.

This year 14 teams are already confirmed as taking part in the rally. If you fancy taking part this year, there is still time to register on the Duchball website. It’s so easy to enter, just find yourself a car and a team and make both look as silly as possible! Each entrant is also asked to raise at least £100 sponsorship for Action Duchenne, this added to the money colected along the way should smash last years total! 

2011 Duchball entrants so far include an Ambulance, the A-team van, the Dukes of Hazzard, the Chav Car and many more crazy contraptions! The after party this year is being hosted at the Ilfracombe Carlton Hotel and once again The Padawans have stepped up to the plate to entertain the revellers, donating their fee to the cause! This is a ticket only event with adult tickets costing £2 and childrens entry free of charge. Tickets will soon be on sale from the Ilfracombe Volunteer centre and Mandys Hairdressers-there are only 160 guest tickets to sell so snap yours up while you can!

Ilfracombe Dad Dominic Stacey, whose son suffers with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is the Head Organiser of the event and has this to say about the support he's received from local people "Its so heart-warming that in a era when people say there is 'no community' that we get so much love and support in these events, people are always stepping forward to help, from fixing cars, doing my Mohawk, supplying fuel and selling raffle tickets. Its amazing how many people out there will give their time and money to assist us and I can tell you for sure Barnstaple and ilfracombe communities are the best! Time really is running out to find a cure-in the last few months we have seen a wave boys dying of this disease, the youngest I know of was 8, my son is 7. DMD is the biggest Genetic killer of children in the world and it can affect anyone, not just carriers of the faulty gene, 100’s of children are born with a spontaneous mutation that gives them Duchenne, there is still no cure and its still 100% fatal. So please join in and help us blow last years total out of the water...the more the merrier!"