2,000-mile rally to raise money for Rotherham Hospice

Instead of jetting out to the American gambling city of Las Vegas, the two teams of four Rotherham Round Table members have all chipped in to snap up two cars for £500 each ahead of a four-day drive to Vegas in southern Spain.

Stuart Burns, James Fox, Mark Allen and Mark Whitehouse make up Team Mystery Machine, in their blue and yellow 2004 Ford Mondeo, while Steve Reynard, brother Andy Reynard, Matt Guest and Mike Starr form Team 4 of a Kind.

They were due to drive down to the south coast tonight, take an overnight ferry and complete the length of France tomorrow, before more miles and fun challenges over the next three days and finally — hopefully — arriving in Vegas on Monday.

They hope to raise at least £500 for Rotherham Hospice.

Stuart said: “We were allowed to spend up to £500 on buying it and anything we liked on to get it roadworthy.

“The other team’s car, which they bought on Ebay, was in perfect condition but ours needed a whole new fuel system.”

The 2,000-mile journey on two sets of four wheels will test the team members’ patience but Stuart added: “We’re all good friends so we should be OK.”

You can make a donation to their appeal page at http://tinyurl.com/RTvegas.