MARCH schoolfriends who drove 1,500 miles across Europe in an old banger have raised more than £4,000 for charity. Jonathan Lishman, of Fairfax Way, with ex-Neale Wade friends Ian Cousins and Martin Watson and work colleague Stuart Ward, entered the Ramsh

MARCH schoolfriends who drove 1,500 miles across Europe in an old banger have raised more than £4,000 for charity.

Jonathan Lishman, of Fairfax Way, with ex-Neale Wade friends Ian Cousins and Martin Watson and work colleague Stuart Ward, entered the Ramshackle Rally - 'Europe's silliest banger rally' - in their £100 Renault Laguna as "The Team with No Theme".

They drove from Calais to Valencia, in Spain, with 99 entrants from all over the world.

They were raising money for Amy's Retreat, a Sheffield-based charity which sends children with cancer on holiday with their families. Mr Cousins' wife Vicki is on the charity's board.

The team set a target of £4,000 from the trip, but exceeded this by £154. Donations can still be made by going to amysretreat.blogspot.com.

One of the few rules of the rally was that all entrants must have a car for which they paid no more than £100. The team spent some time decorating the car and working on the mechanics and it managed to get them to the finish line.

The rally began in Calais on August 24 and after four days, each with their own special challenges, and 1,450 miles of driving through France, Italy, Monaco and Spain, the fun culminated on August 29 with participation in the biggest food fight in the world - La Tomatina, where 40,000 people throw 125,000kg of squashed tomatoes at each other and the cars.

Each team scored points by successfully completing their daily challenges and the team with the most points by the end won a first prize of £1,250.