Rally proceeds in memory of dad (From Wiltshire Times)

Rally proceeds in memory of dad

1:30pm Saturday 7th February 2009 in Latest News By Katie Adams

A 27-YEAR-OLD from Warminster will be taking part in a 300-mile rally to raise money for the hospice which helped care for his father.

Darren Harper, will be acting as co-driver for his friend Ian Wolpole tomorrow, as the pair tackle the Great Bustard Endurance Rally for Dorothy House hospice in Winsley.

He hopes to raise more than £1,000 in memory of his father Iain, who died on January 14.

Mr Harper, who works for an IT firm in Trowbridge, was asked to take part in the rally by Mr Wolpole last year, but nearly pulled out after his father, who was suffering from lung cancer, died after a spell at the Royal United Hospital in Bath.

Mr Harper said: “I had a think about what dad would have wanted me to do and I realised that he would want me to go ahead with the rally.

“I had a chat with Ian and he agreed that we should use the rally to raise money for the charity.”

Mr Harper’s mother Nicola set up a Tulip Fund with the hospice in Winsley after her 47-year-old husband’s death, which means all money raised by family and friends will go into this fund in memory of him.

The Tulip fund is something Dorothy House has set up to give grieving relatives the chance to remember their loved ones and raise money for a good cause.

The Harper’s fund will raise money for the cancer patients dealing with respiratory problems helped by Dorothy House.

They have already already raised £500 through a donation box at the funeral and Center Parcs in Warminster, where Iain worked for 14 years also set up a donation box in his memory and raised a further £500.

His younger son Adam, 22, is also going to take part in a sky dive later in the year for the fund.

Mr Harper said he was looking forward to the rally, which he and Mr Wolpole will start at 2pm tomorrow and finish sometime between 3am and 9am on Sunday.

The annual event is run by the Salisbury and Shaftesbury Driving Club and the pair will be driving a Vauxhall Viva which they rescued from the scrapheap and restored with help from local sponsors including H&B Tyres of Frome.

Anyone wanting to sponsor them can visit www.justgiving.com/rallychallenge_iainharper or call Dorothy House on 01225 721480.