Frederick and Giulia St George are the head organiser's of The Italian Job charity and have spent the past 28 years raising money for children's charities all over the world.
The Italian Job was started by a group of recent graduates in 1990 who wanted to make a difference and combine their love for driving, the Italian culture and foremost The Italian Job 1969 film while raising money for children's charities at the same time but in a fun way.
Frederick and Giulia St George were even able to get in contact with John Cooper, co-founder of the Cooper Car Company, who enjoyed their charity idea and even got them in touch with The Rover Company Limited who ended up becoming the ambassador of the motor rally event and even gives The Italian Job charity a Rover car each year to be sold in their charity auction.
Within the first year, the organisers, along with their Mini car drivers, were able to raise around £70,000 for Children in Need and Child Line.
Now in their 29th year of fundraising, The Italian Job Mini car rally has gone from strength to strength with their events raising tens of thousands of pounds for their nominated children's charities across the UK each year. Launched in 1990, this charity has one simple aim and that is to raise money for children's charities.
One of the head organisers, Frederick St George, had the initial idea:
"It was 1989 and my friends and I had recently graduated from university and wanted to do something that made a difference. Most of us had Minis and a love for the Italian culture and after connecting with my university in Trento, Italy, fifty-five other Mini's including myself drove back to the Trentino–Alto Adige region in Northern Italy as part of our new fundraising event."
Since the charity stared in 1990, they have been able raise an amazing £2,506,717.90 and have donated to children's charities around the world in countries like the England, Italy, Austria, Japan, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the USA and many others.
80% of the money raised goes towards the UK charities they support, 10% goes towards an Italian children's hospital in Turin and the last 10% goes towards onward development of the charity.
Giulia St George, Frederick's mother, wanted to give back to the country that they loved so much:
"It was important for us to support a charity in Italy as we spend the whole trip there and we always receive amazing treatment and a welcoming reception from people we meet on our adventure. We were even able to gain a police escort when travelling through Naples."
The nominated children's charity that they will be raising money for this year will be BUTTLE UK which helps support disabled and disadvantaged children reach their potential. The benefit of BUTTLE UK is that the money you raise will go towards a charity in your postcode and stay within your local area.
This year, the touring event will start on the 27th of October in Imola, located in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and end in Turin, the cinematic home of the Italian Job, on the 2nd of November.
These charitable events include an adventure holiday where the participants explore new places, discover chic towns, taste some of Italy's finest food and wine while driving around in either a classic or new Mini or any of the other classic cars that were featured in the 1969 The Italian Job film.
Frederick St George said that before their first rally, there was no intention of it being a life long event:
"It was a very emotional experience for us during that first year. We even wrote to Paramount Pictures to ask if we could use the name of The Italian Job for our charity so we could start our vision and they wrote back to us saying yes."
The organisation raises money for their nominated charities through various ways. They receive corporate sponsorship from different companies as well as offering ways that the public can get involved like sponsoring a mini, donating items to their auction, buying prize draw tickets and by collection donations through out the trip.
Each driver or 'Jobber', a name coined by a journalist from 'You Magazine' who interviewed the members in 1990, who signs up is given a document which allows them to sell parts of the vehicle to companies who can then advertise their brand on the car and also to raise money for the nominated charity. Their set target is £1,500 but most are able to raise around £2,500.
Over the decades, this social motoring event has been able to tour around most northern regions of Italy and even driven down as far as the region in South-western Italy called Campania.
For their 30th anniversary next year, the organiser's have said that they are toying with the idea of going even more south and drive in and around Naples and the Amalfi Coast and partner with some of Italian Mini owners that they befriended through out the years.
If you are interested in being part of this fun charitable event, you can go on their website to find out more information about the cost to enter and what that money buys you (ferry ticket, hotel stay, food, tickets to events etc.), the itinerary and the rules and regulations: (http://www.italianjob.com/).
