A FAMILY from Braydon, near Minety, will be helping to raise thousands of pounds for needy children next week, when they drive their Mini Cooper across Europe as part of the famous Italian Job rally.

Julio and Bev Wildeboer and their son, Ben, ten, aim to collect more than £1,500 in sponsorship when they join 85 Mini drivers on a ten-day, 3,500-mile journey across France, Germany and Italy.

Money raised by the rally will be donated to NCH Action for Children, the Society of Stars charity which helps children with cerebral palsy, and an Italian orphanage.

The Italian Job charity rally started 11 years ago, and was based on the film of the same name.

The film is famous for the finale in which thieves used the small cars to outrun Italian police through crowded streets, subways and tunnels in Turin.

Actor, Michael Caine, the star of the film, is now one of the rally's patrons.

Drivers in the rally, known as jobbers, have to stop at various locations along the way and amass as much wine, olive oil and other gastronomic specialities as they can squeeze into their Mini.

The loot they collect will later be raffled or auctioned to raise money for the three charities.

It will be the fourth Italian Job in which the Wildeboer family have taken part.

Mrs Wildeboer said: "We are a family of Mini freaks. We like them because they're fun, they're British icons and they go around corners beautifully."

She said the family's Mini Cooper had a celebrated history because it had only ever been driven to raise money for charity.

"Everybody thinks their Mini is special, but ours really does have an interesting history. It was first donated by Rover to the BBC Children in Need charity ten years ago."

It was later sold by auction to a Rover dealer and the Wildeboers bought it four years ago.

Mrs Wildeboer said: "It is still only used for fundraising activities. We don't use it as our everyday car."

Last year, the Wildeboers' teenage daughters, Sian, 19, and Ria, 17, accompanied their parents in a Mini of their own, as a separate team.

The Wildeboers set off on the first leg of their journey from Dover today.

They expect to return to England on November 6. Mrs Wildeboer will celebrate her 47th birthday on November 3, on the Dijon to Le Touquet section.