ORGANISERS of a huge "car meet" in Irvine have hailed the success of the event and those who made it possible.

The "Summer Smasher" took place at Irvine beach park on Sunday, July 30, with thousands descending on the Ayrshire coast from all over the nation.

As the meet is orgnaised as a charity event, it saw an amazing £5,780 raised for organisations in Ayrshire.

Organisers Jonny Adams, Callum Mckenzie, Jade Mcquiston, Syd Surr and Dylan Nixon were delighted with how the event went down.

A spokesperson said: "This is just a wee message of thanks to the local community who attended our event last week down the beach park and a special thank you to the volunteers from Fullerton hub that came down and helped tidy up the mess left by the public attending."

They were happy to admit that the event has had some "hate" in the past - particularly due to some of the mess which has been left behind.

This particular issue came to light during another meet organised at the beach park back in May - though the organising team have said the commitment is there to try and minimalise the impact.

They said: “We know our event is getting some hate from a small number of locals due to the mess.

"We are trying to combat this with the big skip in place, the extra bins and a whole load of extra Facebook campaigns.

"The volunteers and the council did us a good turn and really helped us out.

"Big thanks to the council for assisting with extra bins as well as everybody that did actually use the bins provided.

"Also to Coastwatch for the toilets during the event, Billy Bowie for donating a large skip and to up4loo hire for providing a portaloo."

Though moving away from the concerns raised - the group were keen to emphasise what the event was really all about.

They said: "Now the best bit, due to the vast contacts the team have and the amazing reputation within the car community in Scotland and England we managed to raise ovre £5,000 before the event even took place.

"This money gets split between three great foundations - the Fullerton Hub, Coastwatch and Whitleys Retreat - and it’s an honour to be able to be part of something that can generate some much needed funding to these great foundations.

"We have made a difference and we know the donations will be used properly within the community in Ayrshire, which is important to us as group.

"The charities we picked are all heroes one way or another and deserve the money raised for them and they’re genuinely all amazing people."

This money brings the total raised by meets organised by the group to over £6,000 for the year, after £300 was donated back in May to the local foodbank.

And it appears now that many within the area are beginning to appreciate the benefits that these events bring.

Organisers said: "We were overwhelmed with the some of the local residents and businesses of the harbourside.

"One local man commented that his mum and dad moved down to the harbour in April and they enjoy this event and wished us good luck and local businesses welcomed us in with open arms.

"The council was great coming down with extra bins and the police provided lots of help and information.

"We were totally blown away with the young kids volunteering themselves to come down a pick rubbish up just to be involved."

The also commented on how the event itself can be great fun for all involved.

They added: "We don’t do those events for any self gain, any money needed for banners ect comes out our own pockets and if any money raised for or at the event we donate it back to community charities.

"The events are for the car people to come down, park up, show off their cars and let everyone come down see the hard work there put in it’s a really good experience for younger people.

"There is cars that will came along that they will only see on a game or cars that older people had on their wall growing up.

"Everyone who is sceptical of the event - they should come down and be involved we, welcome everyone at our events."

Organisers also wished to thank the following people and businesses who made donations before and during the event:

  • Valley salvage centre
  • Epic Competitions
  • Love Street Coachworks
  • Hales Car Keys - ECU - Diagnostics
  • Ayrshire Accounting Services
  • Yap Yard
  • Precision Automotive
  • Decked Out Joinery Ltd
  • LWR Training & Services LTD
  • Keep Me Driving
  • Ayrshire recoverys
  • KA Recovery Ayrshire
  • The Scottish Performance Show
  • Meercat exhausts
  • Around The Clock Despatch
  • Nuts Off
  • Five Star Vehicle Deliveries Ltd
  • JWR Recovery & Detailing
  • KDM recovery 24/7
  • Chameleon Powder Coating
  • AMT Coachworks & Powder Coating Services
  • Up4 loo hire
  • Billy Bowie Special Projects Limited
  • Modified Mizfitz UK
  • Billy Petherick
  • Andy Ewing.