Lavinia's Round Britain Tour on the BBC 3rd May 2026

Tony Fisher, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire

A vintage car has completed a 3,500-mile journey around the UK's coast to raise awareness about a mental health charity.

Harry Sear and Paul Harold set off on 11 April at the offices of Reclaim Life in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire and returned on 30 April.

Sear said that for 15 years the charity had helped "over 2,000 people in all sorts of mental health distress" and "we have even saved some lives".

The vintage Talbot 14/45 was about 100 years old, he said, and was named Lavinia which was a "nice 1920s name" - named after the mother of a friend he bought the car from.

Speaking ahead of the trip, Sear's wife Linda, who is chairwoman of the charity, said she was slightly apprehensive, but very proud of them.

Lavinia by the Forth Bridge at Queensferry, near Edinburgh

Sear, trustee and founder of Reclaim Life, said the charity was staffed by volunteers who are trained to give five free sessions of life coaching, which he described as "really effective".

"It is our passion that every community should get to know about this and get to start up a group in their own town."

As Lavinia went round the country it carried a simple message - "with Reclaim Life a community can care for its mental health - make it happen".

Paul Harold (left) and Harry Sear (right) as they were about to set off on their journey around the coast of UK

After Leighton Buzzard, they had lunch at Ladbroke Hall in west London - which was the showroom for the Talbot motor company.

It celebrated the 100th birthday of both the Talbot Owners' Club and Lavinia's model, the Talbot 14/45.

After lunch they set off for the first stop over in Margate, Kent ahead of setting off west/clockwise on their journey around the coast.

The route included stops at Brighton, Bridport, Minehead, Blackpool, Dumfries, Ullapool, Wick, Dundee, Edinburgh, Berwick, Scarborough, Hunstanton and Southend.

Harold, who was a former lorry driver, said the three-week trip was "a lot of fun".

Only one small component in the car needed replacing, but, other than that, he said the car "ate the roads up".

Sear said they "had met some wonderful people; seen some great sights and had a great time".