$2.6 Million, 5,150km, 10 days.

Our people think big so when Craig Bailey, our ECD in Sydney, decided he wanted to raise money for Cancer Research, I braced myself. Finally, he announced to me, “I need 2 weeks off to drive across Australia in a clapped out Volvo to raise money for Cancer Council Australia.”

Five by Five and our client Storage King, together with our partners Thirteen & Co backed him with donations and history was written in the dust of outback Australia.

This was no ordinary fundraiser, this was 5,150km of mainly unsealed dirt roads starting in Perth, via Uluru and finishing in Sydney’s Centennial Park. This 10 day odyssey was completed, just, in a car worth less than $1,000 raising money for cancer research in the annual Shitbox Rally.

The journey took Craig and his co-driver Jeff Edwards on an epic ride through the outback, experiencing terrain that would make the hair on your neck stand up. There were a myriad of challenges: not running out of fuel, actually running out of fuel, not showering, dust getting into cracks you didn’t know existed, extreme heat, cold, and darkness, 130km/h emergencies, busted pipes, shattered bearings, radiators held together with cable ties, vanishing grills and multiple shredded tyres and blowouts, to name a few.

Being the 10 year anniversary of the Shitbox Rally, this route was the longest yet. Collectively the rally teams raised over $2.6 million with Craig and Jeff’s personal fundraising efforts totalling $13,550.

We like to support what’s important to our staff and this was one of those causes we just had to get behind. Enjoy watching the short film of their incredible adventure.