Free community day at Woodhatch Community Centre on Saturday 17 October, 10am to 6pm: car washing, food, music and a raffle with a signed Wesley Fofana shirt.

A charity car wash at Woodhatch Community Centre next Saturday, 17 October, will have car detailers from rival businesses working side by side, and a shirt signed by Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana among the raffle prizes.

The GT Clean Charity Car Wash and Community Day runs from 10am to 6pm and is raising money for two causes: MYTI Youth Club, and Radio Peace Ghana, a community radio station that is off air and trying to build its own mast. Entry is free, and you do not need to bring a car to come.

It is the third year GT Clean, the mobile detailing business founded by Sam Ghartey-Tagoe, has held the event. The first raised £595 and the second £505, £1,100 in all, according to the company. This year it hopes to wash around 30 cars and beat that total.

What is on

There will be car washing all day, alongside food, music, children’s activities, raffles “and more”, GT Clean says. The signed Fofana shirt is one of the headline raffle prizes; Ghartey-Tagoe says he met the player personally to collect it.

Anyone who wants their car washed can register in advance. The press release does not give a booking link, so the way to do it is to contact GT Clean on info@gtclean.co.uk or 07549 262601.

Facts panel: GT Clean Charity Car Wash and Community Day, Woodhatch Community Centre, Reigate, Saturday 17 October, 10am to 6pm, free entry and no car needed. For MYTI Youth Club and Radio Peace Ghana. £1,100 raised so far, £595 in year one and £505 in year two. Aim of about 30 cars and to beat the previous total. Raffle includes a shirt signed by Wesley Fofana.
The day at a glance. Graphic by Reigate News
Share this chartFacebookWhatsAppX

Competitors on the same forecourt

The change this year is who is holding the sponges. Ghartey-Tagoe has invited professional detailers from other businesses to work alongside his team, including firms that would normally be competing with GT Clean for the same customers.

“Detailing can be a competitive industry, but it doesn’t always have to be about fighting for space,” he says. “Competition is healthy, but coming together to do something good for the community is even better.

“We’ve got detailers who would normally be considered competitors working side by side for the day. I wanted to show that we can do that.

“It also gives people who may never normally use a professional detailer the chance to experience what we do, get their car cleaned by people who really care about the details, and support two good causes at the same time.”

A white sports car covered in snow foam on a brick-paved drive, with a pressure washer hose in the foreground
A white sports car in snow foam on a brick drive. Photo: supplied by GT Clean

A radio station in Ghana, and a family habit

Radio Peace is a non-profit community radio station in Winneba, Ghana, and the link to Woodhatch is a family one. Ghartey-Tagoe’s grandfather helped set it up, the company says, to serve its local community and “give a voice to people who may otherwise struggle to be heard”. His father carried the work on.

“For me, giving back is in the blood,” Ghartey-Tagoe says. “I’ve watched my grandad and my dad do it their whole lives. They used the skills they had in broadcasting to support their community and bring people together.

“When I started GT Clean, I knew I wanted giving back to be part of the business too. That’s why we held our first charity car wash in our first year.

“GT Clean started as a side hustle and eventually allowed me to leave my full-time job. Being able to now use the business and the people we’ve reached to create something for the community means a lot to me.”

The station is now off air. According to GT Clean, it used to broadcast from a mast owned by Vodafone Ghana, and when that business became Telecel Ghana the cost of carrying on rose to a level the station could not afford. It is fundraising to build its own 35-metre mast, which would let it return to the air for the communities it was set up to serve.

MYTI Youth Club

The second beneficiary, MYTI Youth Club, supports young people in Surrey with free youth club facilities, activities and hot meals. It is one of the chosen charities of the Mayor of Reigate & Banstead, Cllr Nick Harrison, for 2026/27.

A black McLaren sports car with both doors raised, parked on a block-paved drive under a blue sky
A black McLaren with its doors raised after a clean. Photo: supplied by GT Clean

From a car wash to a community day

Ghartey-Tagoe says the event has grown the way he hoped it would. “The first year was literally a car wash. In the second year we started adding activities for children and could see there was potential to do something bigger.

“This year we wanted to create a proper community day. Even if you don’t want your car washed, we want you to be able to come down with your family and enjoy the day.

“I’d love for this to keep growing every year and become something people look forward to. If we can raise more money each year and bring more people together at the same time, then we’re doing what we set out to do.”

What it means for you

  • When: Saturday 17 October, 10am to 6pm.
  • Where: Woodhatch Community Centre, Reigate.
  • Cost: entry is free. You do not need to have your car washed to come.
  • Car wash: register in advance with GT Clean on info@gtclean.co.uk or 07549 262601.
  • Same evening: the Horley Lions fireworks open their gates at 5.30pm, advance tickets only. More in what’s on in Reigate this month.