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Auden and Cornforth set for Jim Clark National Rally fundraiser

Posted on Thursday, 24 May 2007 02:36PM by

Jayne Auden and Amanda Cornforth will make their debut across the asphalt of the Jim Clark National Rally this weekend (25-26 May) when they compete together to raise money for the Hearing Dogs for Deaf People charity and deaf awareness.

The crew have already raised around £2,500 for Hearing Dogs with their Hear and Now project with the main event of the fundraiser being the Scottish Borders-based 100-mile rally.

Auden, from Stockport, who is hard of hearing, will drive her David Auden and Associates Insurance Brokers and 6^th Gear PR-backed class B9 MG ZR on the event while Thirsk’s Cornforth will co-drive. Although the main aim of the event is to raise as much money as possible for Hearing Dogs and promote deaf awareness, the pair hope to post a good result on the rally.

“Obviously our primary target from the event is to raise even more money for Hearing Dogs,” 25-year-old Auden said. “We want to reach the £5,000 mark and hopefully by competing in the rally it will encourage people to sponsor us even more and hit that sum. But we are also going out there to be competitive on the event and get a good result and fight for class position. It’s not a championship round for us so we are going to have a lot of fun on it but we certainly won’t be just having a ride out.”

The MG will be liveried in special logos for the event and Hearing Dogs volunteers will be around the start and finish in Kelso town centre and on the Langton stage of the event with collection buckets. Hearing Dogs recipients will also be present at the start and finish with their dogs. By raising £5,000 for the charity, it will sponsor a hearing dog throughout its working life, which is what Auden and Cornforth are aiming to do.

“As well as us competing, there’s going to be lots going on around the event with regards to Hearing Dogs,” Auden continued. “There will be volunteers out and about on the rally with collection buckets and we hope people will take kindly to their presence and be generous with donations. As well as raising money for the charity we also want to promote the work Hearing Dogs do and make people aware that being hard of hearing should not restrict you in life.”

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People was set up in June 1982 and is the same age as Cornforth, 25 in the same week! They take dogs from rescue centres, which they then train to alert deaf people to specific sounds. To date they have placed more than 1,300 hearing dogs throughout England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands, changing the lives of many people.

Hearing Dogs receives no government funding and relies solely on the generosity of individuals and organisations in order to keep helping deaf people and unwanted dogs. More than half a million people have profound or severe hearing loss and could potentially benefit from having a hearing dog.

The Jim Clark Rally is round two of the British Rally Championship, the UK’s top series, and round four of the Irish Tarmac Championship. Auden and Cornforth will begin the rally on Friday evening from Kelso town centre before contesting 12 stages and finishing in the market place on Saturday evening.

If you would like to help Jayne and Amanda reach their £5,000 target, please email: jayneandamanda@googlemail.com or visit the website: www.hearandnowfundraiser.co.uk.

You can also donate your money directly via www.justgiving.com/hearandnowfundraising.

All money raised will go directly to the charity, with no costs being taken out of the fund. Jayne and Amanda have paid their entry fee for the rally and funded their expenses for the event by themselves.