Gloag swaps Stagecoach for old banger to drive 1,500 miles for baby charity

STAGECOACH co-founder Ann Gloag has helped to raise £100,000 for orphaned and abandoned babies by driving 1,500 miles in four days.

The former nurse and three friends took part in the Banger Rally, driving from Lille in France to Barcelona in Spain via seven countries.

Mrs Gloag, one of Scotland’s richest women, said she was “elated” after arriving on Monday night, with her Gloag Girls team in fifth place out of 73 cars.

The money raised will go to an abandoned baby unit at Kenya Children’s Home, Nairobi.

The Gloag Girls reached their £100,000 target with the help of another team, the Backhouse Boys, sponsored by Backhouse Jones Solicitors, who were also raising funds for the unit.

Mrs Gloag said: “We’re all exhausted but elated at reaching our £100,000 target.

“That money will fund the abandoned baby unit at the 
orphanage for a year, and I want to say a huge ‘thank you’ to all the individuals and sponsors who have supported us.

“The rally was really tough but also great fun.”

The Gloag Girls undertook the challenge in a 1999 Astra.

The abandoned baby unit can house up to 40 orphaned and abandoned children at any one time and is part of Kenya Children’s Home, which is run by Mrs Gloag and her Balcraig Foundation, which was set 
up to relieve suffering and 
deprivation.