Automotive businesses challenged to race against the clock and raise £500 each to support the next generation of vehicle repair talent
AutoRaise is calling on businesses across the automotive industry to put their teamwork to the test this November as it launches the AutoRaise Pitstop Challenge, an industry-wide fundraising campaign marking the charity’s 10th anniversary.
Inspired by the speed and teamwork of a motorsport pit stop, the challenge invites bodyshops, insurers, repair networks, suppliers and other automotive businesses to assemble teams of two to four people and compete against the clock in a timed wheel-change challenge.
Teams must safely jack a vehicle, remove a wheel, refit it and secure it correctly, with their finishing times submitted to the AutoRaise Pitstop Challenge leaderboard. Businesses can enter multiple teams, creating the opportunity for competition between colleagues as well as organisations across the industry.
But while bragging rights are firmly up for grabs, the real purpose of the challenge is to raise funds to help AutoRaise continue creating opportunities for young people to begin careers in automotive repair.
Each participating organisation is being challenged to raise at least £500 for AutoRaise through its Pitstop event. The charity will provide a fundraising pack containing event guidance, posters and social media materials, with businesses encouraged to add their own fundraising activities alongside the wheel-change competition.
Emma Speed, Managing Director of AutoRaise, said:
“We wanted to create something the whole industry could get involved in, whether you’re a bodyshop with technicians who think they can set an unbeatable time or an insurer or supplier whose team rarely gets anywhere near a wheel brace.
“The competition is part of the fun, but there is a much bigger reason for doing it. Every experienced technician in our industry started as a young person who needed somebody to give them an opportunity. Ten years into AutoRaise’s work, we want to bring the industry together to help create more of those opportunities for the generation coming next.
“£500 raised by one business can make a difference. If 100 businesses take part, together we could raise £50,000. That’s when a simple workplace challenge starts to become something really significant.”
From one pit stop to £100,000
The Pitstop Challenge has deliberately been designed as a simple, flexible event that businesses can run in their own workplace over approximately two hours during November.
The potential impact comes from participation across the sector. If 50 organisations each reach the £500 target, the campaign could raise £25,000. One hundred participating businesses would generate £50,000, while 200 could collectively raise £100,000 for AutoRaise.
The charity hopes the leaderboard will create additional momentum throughout November, with businesses sharing their times, challenging customers, suppliers and industry colleagues and competing for honours including the fastest bodyshop, insurer and apprentice teams, as well as the fastest overall pit stop.
Celebrating ten years by investing in the next generation
The campaign will form part of AutoRaise’s 10th anniversary activity, using the milestone to celebrate a decade of supporting young people into automotive while focusing firmly on the opportunities still to be created.
AutoRaise works across industry, employers and education to help more young people build rewarding careers in automotive repair. Funds raised through the Pitstop Challenge will support the charity’s work to create apprenticeship opportunities and help employers overcome the practical barriers that can prevent those opportunities from getting started.
Emma added:
“Our tenth anniversary gives us an opportunity to look back at what AutoRaise and its supporters have achieved, but we’re much more interested in what happens next.
“The technicians, managers and business leaders our industry will depend upon ten years from now need their first opportunities today. The Pitstop Challenge is a chance for the whole automotive community to have some fun, get competitive and help us open those doors.”
Registrations for the AutoRaise Pitstop Challenge are now open, with participating organisations able to choose when to hold their event during November 2026.
Register and download the Pitstop Challenge fundraising pack
