Formula Charity

Formula Charity was set up by Jacques and Craig Pollock in the autumn of 1998. It's a non- profit organization, which sets out to raise funds for charity by organising various events and meetings throughout the year.

The charities, which have already benefited from Formula Charity include:

• Springfield Club (www.springfieldclub.ork.uk)
  
• Teenage Cancer Trust (www.teenagecancertrust.org)
• Patouch (www.patouch.ch)
• The Anthony Nolan Trust (www.anthonynolan.org.uk)
• Fondation Theodora (www.theodora.org)
• Uscade (www.uscade.org)
• Disability Snowsport (www.disabilitysnowsport.org.uk)
• Coeurs pour Tous (www.coeurspourtous.ch)
• Fondation Lionel Perrier (www.fondation-lionel-perrier.org)
• Cancer & Leukaemia in Children (www.clic.org.uk)
• Children with Aids Charity (www.cwac.org)
• ARES www.ares-sida.ch)
• Cystic Fibrosis in Children (www.cfch.ch)
• Hope and Homes for Children (www.hopeandhomes.org)
• The Down Syndrome Association in England (www.downs-syndrome.org.uk)
• FORCE (www.force-fondation.ch)
• ARFEC (www.arfec.org)
• The Swiss Paraplegic Centre in Nottwil, Le Foyer, and a school for autistic and blind children in Lausanne.

Formula Charity's most famous event is, of course, the Villars 24-hour Ski Race. It's described as 'a ski race for everybody', and is made up of two 'easy' downhills (one during the day, the other in the night). It is a team relay race, and the teams accumulate a maximum number of kilometres to raise money for charity.

9th Edition renamed the BCV 24H de Villars (www.bcv24hvillars.com) Last year welcomed to the event as title sponsor the Swiss bank BCV (Banque Cantonale Vaudoise). With their help and only 12 hours of actual race skiing – due to poor snow conditions - Formula Charity raised another 250’000. This has taken the event to over 3 Million Swiss Francs raised by this Formula Charity event.

The Race - Competitors of all standards get the opportunity to participate in a team race for 24 hours, alongside sporting greats like Jacques, Franz Klammer, Damon Hill, Patrick Ortlieb, Henry Leconte, Mika Salo, Paul Stewart, etc. Normally around 900 skiers in 150 individually sponsored teams of 4-6 people take to the slope for the benefit of charity.

The Concert - During the weekend (the Saturday Night) a pop-concert takes place on the mountain to entertain the spectators and keep them warm! In recent years the crowd has danced to the music of Garou, Andrew Strong (from the film 'The Commitments'), Krokus, Stephan Eicher, Yannick, Roch Voisine, Dannii Minogue, Damon Hill etc.

Quotes From Patrons

Jacques: "We were wanting to do a race like this and the best thing to do was organise it. So then it was the perfect opportunity to get involved with raising money for people in need."

Craig Pollock: "It's a down hill during the day and like a huge big Super G during the night. It's pretty extreme and it's good fun. We had over 800 participants last year and the idea behind it is to ski as many kilometers as you possibly can as well as raising as much money as possible for charity."

Damon Hill: "I got involved because I was invited to ski in it. It's great! You're skiing at three in the morning, on sheet ice, in the dark! And it hurts if you fall off! People really do put a lot of enthusiasm into it and it's all for a good cause. We also have some fun playing some good old rock and roll standards with top musicians. The atmosphere is second to none and if you weren't here you really missed something!"