Bristol Airport names Children’s Hospice South West as its charity partner for the third year running

BRISTOL, England, 2017-Jan-05 — /Travel PR News/ — For the third year running, Children’s Hospice South West has been named Bristol Airport’s charity partner following a vote by Airport staff. More than 20,000 raised for local charity in 2016.

During 2016, staff and passengers raised more than £20,000 for the North Somerset based charity, with initiatives including volunteer collections in the terminal, raffles, cake sales, a Christmas jumper day and Bristol Airport team members participating in the Bristol 10k and recent Santa Cycle on the South Bristol Link.

In December two charity Santa flights also took off from Bristol Airport, arranged in partnership with Thomas Cook Airlines and Eastern Airways. The airlines provided special one hour flights for families from the Hospice and other local charities from the North Somerset and Bristol area. Prior to the flight a party involving cake, glitter and a magician set the scene, before the families boarded the aircraft to continue the party in the sky. On both occasions Santa joined the flight as he was completing test flights in the area ahead of the big day!

Bristol Airport also supports annually the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal which in 2016 raised over £4,000 for the charity with generous donations by passengers and staff in the terminal.

Alongside charity fundraising, Bristol Airport contributes to a variety of local community projects. The Fund set up to benefit the community around Bristol Airport has donated nearly £550,000 to 143 local projects since it was established in 2012.

Each year Bristol Airport contributes a minimum of £100,000 to the Airport Environmental Improvement Fund, with the figure increasing in line with growth in passenger numbers. The Fund’s Management Committee includes representatives from both the Airport and North Somerset Council and is independently chaired.

Last year a total of 46 projects were supported – the highest number of grants since the Fund began, with contributions ranging from £1,000 to £10,000. This included noise insulation grants for local residents; improvements to a pedestrian footpath in Winford; an educational play scheme for Wrington; a local school engagement programme; ‘access for all’ improvements to Regil and Barrow Gurney Village Halls; bat detectors and forest school equipment for the Wrington and Cleeve areas.

The Fund’s purpose is to help mitigate the impact of the Airport’s operations and to give something back to surrounding communities who are situated in close proximity to the site. Projects which could be eligible for support include initiatives to mitigate the impact of aircraft and ground noise, improvements to transport infrastructure, measures to reduce community severance, nature conservation, educational projects and local sustainability initiatives. The Fund’s area of benefit includes the parishes of Winford, Wrington, Backwell, Brockley, Cleeve and Barrow Gurney.

SOURCE: Bristol Airport

For further information please contact the Bristol Airport Local Community Fund Administrator on 01275 473615 or email communityfund@bristolairport.com.