A New Mills doctor is preparing for the trip of a lifetime alongside three other adventurous chaps, as they’re set to take on a 2,500 mile banger car rally across Europe. Dr Mark Blackburn will join forces with John Gilbert, Anthony Britland and Steve Robinson to take on the amazing Rusty Rex Rallies challenge later this week, driving across nine countries in just four days. The men are hoping to raise £5,000 for patient care and services at Blythe House Hospicecare, and will be driving a 20-year-old ‘banger’ Hulk Mondeo which they have funded themselves, at a maximum cost of £500. The adventure will see Mark the Medic, John ‘Chief Engineer,’ Ant ‘where the ‘ell are we?’ Navigator, and Steve ‘Driver Number One,’ start in Ostend, Belgium on Thursday 20th June. They’ll then cross through Luxembourg, France, Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, and Slovenia, to reach their final destination, Venice in Italy. Dr Blackburn said: ‘The whole team has benefitted at some time from palliative support for our loved ones as they near the end of their lives. ‘For Anthony, Steve and John, their thoughts are with their cousin and sister-in-law, Lisa who died in 2012, and John’s dad who died of cancer back in 2002. ‘From my perspective, patients at both practices that I work at – Sett Valley Medical Centre in New Mills, and Hayfield’s Old Bank Surgery – support Blythe House Hospicecare because a lot of them have experienced at least one part of what Blythe House offers at some point in their life. I want to give something back through sponsorship raised from this event.’ You can find out more about the exciting adventure, and donate, by visiting the team’s Just Giving page:...