By William Coleman
Coming up with effective fundraising ideas are pretty much a full time job in itself. But this Cumbrian holiday park has created a great new way of raising money this autumn. The idea used some vibrant colours to bring the masses.
The staff at Holgates holiday park raised over £2,000 this autumn for two great charities. Pinks and purples were the theme used for the money raising efforts for Breast Cancer Awareness and Pancreatic Cancer UK.
The colourful couple of months saw team members organise a wide range of different fundraising activities all themed around the colours of the two charities. In the first effort the park’s staff turned up to work dressed in bright pink and decorated the park’s reception to match the staff which ran across a whole weekend of fundraising support for Breast Cancer Awareness.
Once that weekends success was over the second money raising leg started. The second effort saw the staff switch from pink to purple for national awareness day, highlighting Pancreatic Cancer UK.
The staff went to a lot more effort than a colourful wardrobe change. Once they were suited and booted in the right bright colours, the staff took part in a series of charity challenges to help top of the fundraising pot.
These activities included a sponsored hike around the local beauty spot Arnside Knott, still full embracing the pink and purple themed dress code. On top of that there was also a bake sale of homemade treats and goodies.
Many of the 150 staff at Holgates’ six holiday parks – including its flagship Silverdale park – gave up their time to help raise money for the local branches of the two charities.
One of them, Pancreatic Cancer UK, has been adopted as the Holgate group’s designated charity of the year, and has a special significance for the business.
That’s because Frank Holgate, the father of Michael Holgate who steers the group today, passed away from the disease almost three years ago.
Frank was an early pioneer of holiday parks in the Lake District, and his original business – Silverdale park – marked its sixtieth anniversary last year.
Fundraising, said Michael Holgate, has long been a tradition within the company:
“Many of the most amazing ideas for helping good causes have come directly from our staff, and we’re always delighted to give them our backing,” he said.
“They deserve a huge pat on the back for the time and energy invested in planning and putting the events into action, each of which has come up trumps.
“Their enthusiasm also encourages other members of the community and holidaymakers to get involved, such as with our sponsored walk in autumn.
“Now we’re challenging everyone to come up with more charity money-raisers for the festive period, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store!” added Michael.
Local organisers of both charities helped during the recent rounds of fundraising have sent their thanks to everyone concerned at the parks.
We are seeing a lot more sites and parks across the UK stepping up to spread awareness and raise money for charities. Every little helps when it comes to giving to charity. With so many of us using these holiday parks the word is really getting out there. Well done guys, an amazing effort.
