Soapbox rally team ready for shedload of fun

The Stour Valley Men's Shed organisation will compete in the Colchester Soapbox Rally for the first time on Sunday

An organisation is getting ready for a shedload of fun as it competes in a soapbox rally for the first time.

The Colchester Soapbox Rally returns to the Essex city on Sunday, where 29 soapbox teams will race 230m (755ft) down North Hill.

One of the teams taking part is the Stour Valley Men's Shed based in Long Melford, Suffolk, which brings people together through a love of manual work.

Tim Blackburn, trustee of the team, said it took no convincing of the other 59 organisation members to get involved in the race.

"[We] thought about conceiving [a soapbox] from nothing, but it worked out that two chaps from Foxearth had one in a very basic form and they offered to donate it for a negotiated bottle of whiskey and some Guinness," he said.

After the kart was donated, the team built it up using entirely recycled items before painting it green and placing a mini shed on the back behind the driver.

Tools have then been painted on the sides of the body to represent the organisation's shed building connection.

The team included a mini shed on the back of the kart in a nod to their shed-building roots

Philip Goodyer, the designer, felt pride for his design after initially making it from cardboard to "test it out".

"The idea was to put a shed on the back of a soapbox and that is what we've done," he explained.

"Working with all the guys in the shed, they've been helping out and it's been a really good exercise in friendship."

Alan the driver was confident of a top three finish in the race