Select World Travel reports ‘really successful’ first year for charitable foundation

Poole-based agency Select World Travel has reported a “really successful and fun” inaugural year for its charitable foundation.

 

Select World Travel Foundation was launched in February this year and set out to raise £30,000 for three charities: MyTime Young Carers, Hope For Food and Martin House Children’s Hospice.

 

Reflecting on the organisation’s first year, foundation director Leanne Giddings said the team is “over the moon” to have surpassed its original target, raising more than £40,000.

 

She said: “We’ve just had this real consistent level of events, and we’ve done a whole variety of things. We’ve done community events, where we’ve been invited along to host some sort of activity and raise money through that, and we’ve put on our own events, including a family fun day, which was amazing.”

 

The team has also hosted fitness events, Easter and Halloween activities, and its annual Luxury Travel Showcase, which was “the best one we’ve ever done” in terms of fundraising.

 

Giddings said “one of the highlights” was a plane pull challenge the agency completed as a team, raising £1,500 for MyTime Young Carers.

 

However, the impact of the foundation “goes beyond” the money raised, as Giddings explains one of the main goals was for the team to become “involved with our charities and make it a proper partnership”.

 

“We’ve tried to get really hands on with our charity partners, doing volunteering or getting involved with certain campaigns,” she said.

 

The foundation also worked with Oceania Cruises to organise a ship visit experience on board Oceania Marina for eight young carers and a couple of members of staff from MyTime Young Carers.

 

“As part of [the charity’s] employability programme, they support young carers and help them feel inspired to see opportunities that are out there for them.

 

“We contacted Louise [Craddock, UK & Ireland director of sales at Oceania Cruises] and managed to get a ship visit and grand tour – it was so inspirational.”

 

As well as supporting its three chosen charities, Select World Travel Foundation has also launched its first grant-giving programme.

 

Giddings said this was “one of the main goals” the foundation wanted to achieve, and it opened its first application process in June.

 

She said: “We were able to issue a grant to a local charity called Home-Start Wessex, which was asking for a grant of £1,900 to fund a new ‘bumps and babies’ group in a local community.

 

“We were able to get it match funded, so they ended up with £3,800, which was really good.”

 

Looking ahead to next year, the foundation has selected three new causes to support, which it will announce in the new year.

 

In addition to repeating some of the events it hosted this year, the foundation hopes to introduce new fundraisers including a golf day, with the goal of raising £40,000.

 

Select World Travel’s owner and managing director Hannah Vincent said she is “extremely happy” with how the foundation has performed in its first year and hailed the support they’ve received from clients and supplier partners.

 

“Our clients love [the foundation] as well,” she said. “All the clients at our travel shows are really generous. We also want to thank all the suppliers that sign up to our marketing proposal and support these events.

 

“It’s just an all-round really lovely feeling.”

 

As well as seeing fundraising success through its foundation, Select World Travel has also experienced business growth this year, reporting its “best-ever” peaks and seeing £1.8 million in gross turnover between January and March.

 

Pictured: Leanne Giddings [far right] and Hannah Vincent [second from left] with members of Select World Travel Foundation’s plane-pull team in support of MyTime Young Carers