Pavestone Rally 2025: Driving Laughter, Adventure and £233,000 for Charity!

2025 PAVESTONE RALLY - THE INSIDE STORY

Continuing on the success of previous Pavestone Rallies, the 2025 Pavestone Rally was nothing short of spectacular! A whirlwind of laughter, costumes, camaraderie, and unforgettable memories.

Almost two months have now passed since we celebrated crossing the finish line in Amsterdam and almost all of the remaining money pledged has been collected. However, before we announce the grand total, let’s take a look at a few Rally highlights from five days in September. From the high-octane energy at the starting line to the emotional celebrations at the finish, the 2025 Rally captured the very best of what makes the Pavestone charity event so special: teamwork, generosity, and a shared sense of adventure.....

 

The minions prepare to invade!

On Wednesday 3rd September, 38 teams made their way from around the UK, all dressed up in ‘Minion’ themed outfits. Our assembly point, the ferry port of Dover.

There were looks of bewilderment and amazement from all the other passengers, upon seeing so many minions gathered together in the ferry restaurant. All of them intrigued about where were all travelling, although a little concerned with our plans to steal the moon!

 

Stealing The Moon

Not one of the official challenges, although “stealing the moon” would have definitely been worth a few extra bonus points!

Instead, teams tackled slightly more achievable missions such as dashing up an escalator the wrong way and turning one unlucky rally participant into a fully wrapped, cling film, mummy!

To Düsseldorf

Day one: Despite high winds, rainstorms, and a particularly rough sea crossing, our convoy eventually rolled off the ferry into Calais later than planned.

Spirits remained high, though, as teams powered on through France, Belgium, and into The Netherlands, finally reaching our first night’s stopover and the official 2025 Pavestone Rally start line, in Düsseldorf.

The teams enjoyed a well earned rest after a long but memorable day on the road, readying themselves for five epic days of challenges and adventures across the European rally route.

 

.. And we’re off, Berlin bound.

The following morning, day two, we all met up at the base of the Rhine Tower. Thursday’s fancy dress theme was ‘Freestyle’. Anything goes, so another day of shocking the general public with our wacky outfits, as well as receiving some odd looks from the Polizei and the Bundeswehr (German Army)!!

 

 

Our diverse bunch of misfits gathered to hear our challenges for the day and a 'good luck' send off from the event organisers, Aaron Frogley and his glorious assistant Melissa. All the teams had embraced the spirit of the rally with incredible fancy dress and plenty of friendly rivalry, all in the name of raising funds for our chosen charities.

 

Ghost busters, Austin Powers, the Thunderbird's, and even President Donald Trump lined up alongside a host of other wonderfully crazy teams to be waved off and away from Düsseldorf, on our way to Berlin, totally unexpectedly by a real German Army Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel), who just happened to be with his platoon attending a military assembly, in the same park as us!

The day’s challenges included a hilarious mix of tasks, from collecting random items, 'snapping' ridiculous photos to filming outrageous videos with unsuspecting members of the public!

Among our favourites were singing a German nursery rhyme to an elderly local and knocking on a stranger’s door with an empty container to ask for a water refill. All completely absurd and absolutely hysterical. Especially when you’re dressed as Batman and Robin!

 

The famous city of Hamelin was en route to Berlin and where better to set another of the days challenges.
Best known for the tale of the ‘Pied Piper of Hamelin’, the challenge was to re-enact the piper driving out the rats and ask as many people as possible to follow along behind you.

Who wouldn’t follow a tuneful band like the Beatles! Although the record by one of the other teams was 22!

 

 

Sightseeing & more challenges

Arriving in the spectacular city of Berlin late in the afternoon gave everyone a chance to soak up the atmosphere and take in some of the iconic sights, from the Brandenburg Gate to Checkpoint Charlie.

With the clock ticking, teams raced to complete a few last-minute challenges before handing in their well worn challenge sheets to Aaron for scoring.

The sense of accomplishment (and friendly rivalry) was palpable as the day drew to a close amid laughter, sightseeing, and a few well-earned drinks to celebrate reaching Germany’s vibrant capital.

 

 

The meeting point was at the Hofbräu tavern. The perfect place to take on the stein glass of beer challenge. Hold a full 1 ltr glass jug out at arms length for as long as possible. Of course we needed more than one or two to practice!!

For those of us with a head for heights, and the need of an adrenaline rush, Europe’s highest swing was situated on the top of our hotel. 25 bonus points was awarded to any team prepared to swing out 120 metres above the rooftops of Berlin. Quite disturbing for anyone looking up and seeing two Oompa-Loompas screaming out above their heads!

 

Ferry crossing, tunnels and a BIG bridge to malmö!

Waking up to a damp and misty morning on day three, and feeling mostly refreshed after the previous evening’s lively “social competitions”, the teams gathered at the assembly point for Day Three: The Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of World Cultures). The setting couldn’t have been more fitting for the day’s theme, 'Fancy Dress Costumes from Around the World'.

As the convoy rolled in, the scene was a riot of colour, creativity, and laughter. From sombreros and saris to samurai armour and Scottish kilts, the imagination on display was truly international. Even the drizzle couldn’t dampen spirits as teams posed for photos, exchanged banter, and drew smiles from bemused passers-by.

With the stage set and the mood buzzing, the day promised another unforgettable leg of the rally, filled with challenges, laughter, and a parade of global costumes that would have made even the United Nations proud!

 

Vikings, Saudis, French, Mexicans, Pilots, Sailors. Costumes from all four corners of the earth. Then just as we had all received the days tasks, suddenly we were all distracted by the acrid smell of smoke and what sounded like, well, Celine Dion singing her heart out?!

We all rushed to the top of the stairs. Alas, it was not the famed vocalist singing the theme from the film Titanic but Trevor and Lucyanne acting as Rose and Jack, along with the Captain and Purser as a two piece orchestra!Another challenge ticked off. The K Factor challenge. Perform a song and upload onto social media. Well done team Checkpoint Charlies. Your hearts will indeed go on!!

Denmark here we come!

When all the smoke finally cleared, it was time for the challenges to begin. We set off on our way to Rostock for the ferry crossing to Denmark taking in the wonderful cities, towns and countryside en route.

With all the teams taking the same ferry crossing, we all queued up in the same line along with all the other passengers. Oh boy, were they in for a shock. Not only were they all aghast at all the strange people and sticker clad cars parked right next to them, but many were unaware that they were about to take part in some of our mad cap challenges.

Ask a member of the public to throw food at you. Get a complete stranger to draw or write something on your face with a permanent marker. Give them a lap dance. All had to be filmed and submitted on video at the end of the day. A day that some passengers certainly will not forget!

 

Next stop Sweden 

A somewhat easier challenge, although quite painful, see how many clothes pegs you can attach to a team members face. The more pegs, the more points awarded.

Take a group photo with someone in uniform at a border crossing. With so many officials on the ferry, most teams had this challenge in the bag. Instructing the bridge officers on the best way out of port wasn’t on the list but good job Kent for getting some well deserved bonus points!

 

 

Safely back on dry land, we headed our way through Denmark to reach the Öresund Bridge. A ginormous bridge stretching almost 8km in length, we crossed over into Sweden to arrive at our destination for the day, Malmö.

A beautiful city with half-timbered houses and cobbled streets full of bars and restaurants. The perfect setting for some great food. And some not so great food! The evenings challenge was to taste the complete menu at the ‘Disgusting Food Museum’. The pictures speak for themselves!

A FAIRYTALE ROUTE TO HAMBURG

Saturday. Day Four of the Rally.

The weekends can be a great time to let you hair down and today was not the exception! The theme for Saturday was Princesses and many of the teams were definitely dressed to impress, with some even going all out with four inch high heels and buckets of make up.

Of course others were naturally gorgeous and beautiful Princesses^*!

 

The meeting point was the sea shore with stunning views back to the Öresund Bridge and for anyone else admiring the view of the bridge that morning, they were greeted another spectacular sight.

After the official group photos were taken and our challenges for the day distributed, off we went to swim with the famous Copenhagen mermaid and running through the fountains, (which is really quite difficult in high heels!) Next destination, Hamburg.

 

Secretly putting a random item into a strangers shopping trolley can really upset other shoppers, but when it’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, people didn’t seem to mind!

Other ridiculous challenges along the way included riding a local’s bike, carrying out a strangers job and taking a photo of a very attractive person sitting on the bonnet of their rally car.

 

Tragedy strikes

Many of the teams actually followed the rules of the rally, one of which was to buy their chosen vehicle for less than £1,000. Unfortunately this has its risks when travelling 1,700 miles in the warm September weather.

Sadly for Team ‘Young Merchants’, their car succumbed to the rigours of the rally and finally gave up the ghost.

With all the teams finally arriving in the port of Hamburg, there was just enough time to grab some additional challenge points.

Mouths were stuffed full with as many marshmallows as you could fit in whilst saying ‘Pavestone Rally’. One point for every marshmallows.

Proposals of marriage were being made on many of the 2,500 bridges, bagging an extra five points.

And whilst everyone was winding down after yet another full on day, numerous teams felt the need to attempt the stein glass of beer challenge again, even though no extra points were being awarded!

 

LATEX ANd LAUGHTER - The final straight!

Day Five. Hamburg to the finishing post in Amsterdam. A city well known for social freedom and liberalism, as well as its colourful and vibrant nightlife.

So what better costume theme for the final day of the 2025 Pavestone Rally. PVC Party!! And after travelling almost 1,500 miles over the last four days, we were very much in the mood to party!

All the teams amassed near a very picturesque lakeside. A beautiful location very popular with dogs walkers, but funnily enough, not on that Sunday morning!

 

What a sight. If there were any dogs left in the park, their barks would have been drowned out by the singing from one of the more theatrical teams.

Not all teams were as brave as others, so they just opted to go with the ‘PVC’ theme and drop the ‘Party’ element. Yet still having the party spirit and looking forward to the final days challenges to get us to the checkered flag.

As we were all pretty much ‘challenged’ out, there were only a few easy challenges for the final day. However one was proved not to be so easy.

Tie a Frankfurt sausage to a piece of string, then tie the other end around your waist. The challenge. Swing the dangling sausage up in the air and try and catch it in your mouth. Just as well all the dog walkers had disappeared!

 

 

After a relatively short journey through the flat Dutch countryside, all the teams finally crossed the finishing line just outside our final hotel, greeted by Aaron and representatives from the four main charities, CRASH, Variety, Teenage Cancer Trust and Lighthouse.

 

Fantastic!

Over 2,000km from where we all started back in Dover, we just had enough time to squeeeeeeze out of our fancy dress, change into our bright orange ‘Rally Finisher’ T-shirts, don our Bavarian style hats and head off to the center of Amsterdam for the presentation evening.

And the winner is…

The venue for the evening celebrations was Van Rijn, in Rembrandt Square, smack bang in the middle of the city. A superb fine dining spot, to celebrate passing the chequered flag and finding out who’d won the prizes.

 

 

Everyone who took part, received their own Pavestone 2025 Rally medal, and prizes were awarded for the extra ‘bonus’ challenges set by our official sponsors, K Rend, Fakro, Burg-Wächter, Advent and Circulayo.
With

 

With everyone now fed, watered and finished our power naps, it was time to announce the winning teams. It wasn’t all about getting the most points or raising the most amount of money, the more prestigious trophies to be won were the ones where you had been voted by all the other teams.

Best Dressed Team, Best Dressed Car and Best Team Spirit. These just typified the overall atmosphere of The Pavestone Rallies. The sense of belonging to one big family, having a whale of a time but most importantly raising a pot load of cash for charity!

 

 

So, with the trophies and medals handed out we waited with baited breathe to hear Aaron announce the total amount we had all raised. Although the current financial climate is making fundraising very difficult, we were still hopeful of beating the last 2023 Rally, a total of £217,000.

You could here a pin drop, whilst we were on the edge of our seats waiting in anticipation...

“And the total raised from the 2025 Pavestone Rally is.....”

 

 

The cheering grew to a crescendo and could be heard all around the square. Almost a quarter of a million pounds!

With a few sore heads the following morning, all the teams made their own way back to blighty. Some travelling all the way home in one day, some leaving their cars at the scrap yard and flying home, whilst others took a more relaxing journey back over a few days.

Now two months later, I think we have now all pretty much recovered from our epic journeys. Time to start thinking about the 2027 Pavestone Rally!

And hopefully we can smash the £1Million!

 

 

Jon Layton, Group CEO of Pavestone:

"This year’s rally was more than just a journey across Europe; it was a journey of teamwork, friendship, and compassion. Every laugh shared, every challenge completed, and every mile driven helped raise an extraordinary amount for charities that truly make a difference to people’s lives.

Krystal, Aaron, Myself and all of Team Pavestone, would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who supported the Pavestone 2025 Rally, with a special thanks to all of the main sponsors.

To all the participants: You brought energy, colour, and a huge sense of fun to every stop along the way. The creativity, effort, and camaraderie on display reminded us why this event has become such a special part of the Pavestone story. From all of us at Pavestone: Thank you for helping us make a real and lasting impact!

We can’t wait to see you all again in 2027 for another unforgettable adventure!”

 

The 2025 Pavestone Rally - Video Highlights

 

 

Blog author: Carl Knowles - Thinck Creative Marketing, Rally Participant and Princess*

* Every Pavestone Rally, dressed as a Princess - Carl?