The Norwegian charity “Drive For Life” has be chosen as the official charity partner of the FIA European Rallycross Championship. This new partnership will help the charity grow and expand further into Europe itself with Rallycross currently one of the fastest growing forms of motorsport. This was confirmed on the FIA World Rallycross Championship website in June.
Established in 2011 by European Rallycross driver Knut Ove Borseth, the charity itself aims to help under-privileged children by providing support to individuals and their communities. Through an automotive focused programme run at local workshops and with educational classroom activities also involved, Drive For Life provides its students with new inspiration, motivation and life skills. Each DFL student has their own dedicated follow-up plan, developed in collaboration with their teachers, parents and public healthcare services.
Supported by the Crown Prince of Norway, the charity currently works with councils, police and social services to select entrants in over 25 regions across Norway and Sweden. Each group follows the same structure: five students are followed by two supervisors, for one evening per week over a period of 48 weeks a year.
The Drive For Life RX team will make selected appearences at EuroRX with Wildcard drivers being entered to take part on behalf of the team, fully funding the drive and giving the charity further exposure in the worlds of Rallycross and Motorsport. To add to this, Charity members will be given the chance to attend EuroRX events, meet the Team and Drivers and also have the chance to travel and work as a team member of Drive For Life RX.
Drive for Life founder, Knut Ove Borseth, expressed his happiness at this move.
“This is fantastic! To be given the opportunity to work with Euro RX and IMG in such a partnership will give many young people throughout Europe a new chance. Through this partnership, we will get the opportunity to spread our message and team activities to thousands of youths across Europe, and it is with great humility that we now undertake this responsibility.
“Drive for Life shall give thrill-seeking youths with a desire for risk, a legal and action-filled alternative, and a team to be proud of. With clear team rules, we will together create a healthy and good future for those who want to participate in our black and orange team. For me, this is a dream come true – a dream that will give youth a second chance to be seen, and to experience mastery and belonging.”
Martin Anayi, World RX Managing Director for IMG explained how the charity’s hard work has impressed him.
“I have been very impressed by Drive for Life’s philanthropic achievements and it is an honour to have them on board as our new Official Charity Partner. The statistics from DFL’s Norwegian programme has revealed that 87% of its students stayed on at school for a further year, which is a fantastic achievement. With over ten events staged across Europe, we can offer DFL a platform to promote the charity’s work with children.
“Not only that, but we can help expand DFL’s reach with introductions to new markets such as Spain, which currently has a 23.5% school drop-out rate. We are very much looking forward to working with DFL on its RX programme and will look to support our chosen charity in as many ways as possible over the next few years.”
