Dunmow Group Sponsor & Win 'Best Design' at the Dunmow Soapbox Races 2022

Dunmow Group were diamond sponsors of The Great Dunmow Soapbox Race, the largest soapbox race in the UK after Red Bull. After being cancelled for the last two years due to the pandemic, this year it was bigger and better.

With the event raising money for some amazing charities such as St Clare Hospice, The Robin Cancer Trust and Rainbow Rural. The total is yet to be finally counted, which is estimated currently around £20,000.

We entered two soapboxes into the races, one for the Dunmow Group and one for our sister company Fireward Fire Suppression. We started by looking at how we could make the base of the cart, we decided that buying two old second-hand buggies was the easiest way to start. Our yard welders then took the time to strip them down, ensuring that we hit all the Soapbox rules and guidelines, these involved a weight and width limit working breaks, a solid floor and a rigid steering system.

We wanted to design the cart as recognisable as possible to the local community, so we opted with our distinguishable Dunmow Skip Lorry and a classic fire suppression cylinder. We worked with Creative SD who helped bring our ideas to life. With our two drivers Connor, Group Transport Manager and Adam our Transport Planner. They had their helmets, gloves and boilersuits ready for the big day.

Over 15,000 people arrived in Great Dunmow to attend the Great Dunmow Soapbox with over 40 carts to race. The local community qued up the hill on both sides to get the best view of the action, there were also multiple screens to watch the race surrounded by local food stalls, bars and other small businesses. We raced our carts three times down the track, and ended up with minimal breakage!

There were two ways to 'win' at the races - speed and design.
Team Greased Lightning came first on the day with the quickest time, followed by Commodity Centre in second and Weston Homes in third. But Dunmow Group's famous Skip Truck won the award of 'Best Design 2022'

"Thank you to everyone who supported us on Sunday, we are incredibly proud of what we were able to achieve and to see the event be enjoyed by so many people. A special thanks have to be said to our brilliant sponsors who enabled us to grow the event with additional screens and camera crews allowing everyone who came to get an exceptional view of the race. The focus of the event has always been on making it one of the greatest free events the country has to offer and on Sunday, we did just that. The event would not have been possible or safe without our volunteers and charity partners so thank you to them and of course to everyone who came, enjoyed the event and gave generously."