Scotland’s richest woman ready to rally across Europe

Scotland’s richest woman Ann Gloag is gearing up to rally across Europe to raise money for a children’s charity.

The former nurse and co-founder of transport company Stagecoach Group is taking part in the Banger Rally next month to raise funds for a unit for abandoned babies at Kenya Children’s Home in the country’s capital Nairobi. Kenya Children’s Home is run by Mrs Gloag and her Balcraig Foundation. It helps up to 1,700 children every year.

Mrs Gloag, who will drive a 1999 Vauxhall Astra 1,500 miles from Lille in France to Barcelona in Spain, said: “There are a lot of people who think I am mad to do this, but I wanted to do something completely different in order to help raise awareness and funds for the abandoned babies that we help.

“Babies are often left at our gates in plastic bags or brought to us by the police after being found in the street.

“We try to provide the best care we can at our unit and, thankfully, around 80 per cent of the babies are adopted by Kenyan families and the rest are cared for in our orphanage until they are 18.

“My foundation provides the core funding for all the Kenya Children’s Home projects but we are always looking for more people to become involved.

During the fundraising journey the Gloag Girls will compete against the Backhouse Boys. The men’s car, a 2002 Ford Mondeo, is being sponsored by Backhouse Jones Solicitors whose directors Ian Jones and Jonathon Backhouse are taking part.