Top rally and motoring stars could be heading to Newtown next January for what will be the final Mid Wales Rally Forum event.
Organisers, who have raised £99,000 for local charity to date through the events, have said they will hold their final forum at Hafren in Newtown on 6 January 2018.
They are due to announce the special guests in the next few weeks and have revealed that a share of the money raised will go to the Brecon Beacons Mountain Rescue Team following the tragic death of Montgomery young farmer, James Corfield.
“The forum will take place on 6th January 2018. As it is to be the last one, the organisers have decided to move to a larger venue, Theatre Hafren in Newtown. Tickets will be £15.00 and will only be available from Theatre Hafren box office,” said an event spokesperson.
The forum has been running since 2004. It was the idea of the World Rally Champion co driver, Phil Mills, fellow top Welsh co driver, Howard Davies and local garage owner John Whittall Williams.
“The idea was to raise some money for local charities to take advantage of Phil’s world championship.They brought on board Howard Watkins from Rally Marketing and Nigel Williams to help put the idea into action.
“Theatre Clera was chosen in Welshpool, guests from the rally world were invited and a sell-out crowd were entertained to an evening of chat and laughter, all under the “guidance “ of Howard Davies. There was an auction and a raffle. £6000 was raised on the night and donated to Wales Air Ambulance.
He added: “The event was such a success that it has been held many times since. The forum has become a fixture on the rallying calendar, with tickets in great demand.
“It has attracted some of the world’s top rally stars, including Petter Solberg, Ari Vatanen, Mikko Hirvonen, Malcolm Wilson and Kris Meeke plus many local stars including, Mark Higgins, Gwyndaf and Elfyn Evans.
“Over the years, the organisers have set targets for raising money then ending the forum. However, these targets were reached and surpassed. Many charities have benefited from the generosity of the rallying world, including Welsh Air Ambulance and Cancer Research.
“It has now been decided that as the forum has so far raised £99,000, it would be a pity if we couldn’t raise the last £1000, to make it £100,000 donated to charities, before ending the forum.
“Following the recent tragic passing of James Corfield, one of the charities to benefit from the forum will be Brecon Mountain Rescue, who were very much at the forefront of the search for James.”
Photo ©Owain Betts
