We caught up with Harriet this morning to ask her about how she feels about being named by the public the Volkswagen Tiguan People’s Reviewer and what she plans to do with the grand prize — her very own Tiguan. She was still a bit emotional, and a bit tired, but elated.

The 33-year-old children’s charity worker says she plans to have the Tiguan donated directly to Romanian Relief, a renowned NGO that brings a lot of good to children (many of whom are orphans) who have very little. Harriet actually traveled to Romania straight after filming her first review. There she came up with the idea to give the car to the charity if she won. Not surprisingly, Romanian Relief and their extensive ties within the international charity community helped get out the word for Harriet. “I had people I’d never even heard of — from New Zealand, from Gaza — emailing to say, ‘I voted for you.’ It was wonderful,” Harriet told us.

The fine automotive blog Cars UK is not surprised Harriet claimed the title. “Frankly, it’s no great surprise,” Cars UK wrote yesterday.  “All the contestants enlisted help from every area they could online and offline to garner votes, but Harriet had an ace up her sleeve. She intends driving the Tiguan to Romania to donate it to Romanian Relief. Which no doubt brought in a vote or three.

“And we had a suspicion it would go this way as our server logs showed a fair few people coming and checking out the story from a link on a forum asking people to support Harriet’s charitable venture. So good on her,” the blog continued.

Harriet told us the Tiguan will be put to good use in Romania. In an email message she wrote:

“It will be used to get to the ‘shanty’ type villages where the poorest or families live. The car will stock much needed supplies to give out to the families. The car is also going to be used to take the children the foundation has rescued on day trips.”

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to make such a HUGE difference. I really loved the car (mine’s falling apart), but to know that every mile the car makes is either going to save a child from being abandoned or to support very poor familes.

Thanks again Harriet xxx

And the winner is…

Congratulations to Harriet Gore! The public has crowned her the first-ever Volkswagen Tiguan People’s Reviewer. We are delighted to announce that Harriet will receive her very own Tiguan. We also want to thank our superb finalists, Eric and Johnny, and all the participants who reviewed the Volkswagen Tiguan for us this summer. Their hard work, creativity and sportsmanship is to be commended.

Also, we want to thank you, the public. Thank you for taking part and showing your support, and congratulations again to Harriet.

Sincerely,

The People’s Reviewer team