Center Parcs helps protect children and the environment with new charity partnerships

Thursday 11th July 2013

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As its three year partnership with Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity came to a very successful end in May, Center Parcs is now delighted to be supporting two new charity partners, ChildLine and The Wildlife Trusts.

Over the next two years Center Parcs will be working with ChildLine and The Wildlife Trusts to support children and the natural environment; both of which are at the heart of a Center Parcs break.

The new joint partnership will see Center Parcs supporting the ChildLine Schools Service, a ground-breaking service that aims to protect a generation of children, one primary school at a time. The initiative aims to get specially trained volunteers visiting every primary school in the UK to help children understand abuse, give them the confidence to talk, and show them who’s ready to listen.

Together we hope to help make nature not just something for holidays, but a part of everyone’s ‘real life’ back home, too

Center Parcs will also be raising funds for, and awareness of, The Wildlife Trusts’ Real Life appeal which aims to recover our natural environment and create ‘Living Landscapes’ across the UK.  Working together, the two organisations aim to encourage families to bring nature and real ‘Living Landscapes’ into their daily lives and back into their communities.

Center Parcs CEO, Martin Dalby, said:
“After raising an incredible £503,246 for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity over the past three years, we felt it was time to share the generosity of our staff and guests with other charities. Center Parcs is all about families spending quality time together in the natural forest setting so our new partnerships with ChildLine and The Wildlife Trusts are the perfect fit.”

Guests can make a donation when booking a break at Center Parcs and Center Parcs pledge to match the donations made. Each donation will be equally split between the two charities.

Peter Wanless, CEO of the NSPCC, said:
“We are really excited to be working with Center Parcs on this partnership. Thankfully most children have a very happy childhood, but for others it can be a confusing and lonely time. Our ChildLine Schools Service aims to ensure all children know about abuse and where to go for help if they need it. With the support of Center Parcs and their guests, our volunteers will be able to visit even more schools, helping more children to have a safe and happy childhood.”


Nigel Doar, Director of Strategy for The Wildlife Trusts, said: “Real experiences of nature can make a holiday more exciting, more memorable or more relaxing. Our new partnership with Center Parcs will support the work of local Wildlife Trusts across the UK to create Living Landscapes and secure Living Seas, and to inspire people about the natural places that are important to their own communities. Together we hope to help make nature not just something for holidays, but a part of everyone’s ‘real life’ back home, too.”

Martin added:
“We hope our guests will agree these are two inspirational organisations and together, with their help, we look forward to supporting both worthy causes over the next two years.”

ENDS

 

Notes to Editors:
• Center Parcs has four forest locations across the UK; Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, Elveden Forest in Suffolk, Longleat Forest in Wiltshire and Whinfell Forest in Cumbria with it’s fifth village, Woburn Forest in Bedfordshire due to open in Spring 2014
• As the leader in the UK short break holiday market, in 2012/13 Center Parcs achieved an average annual occupancy of 97.2%
• Center Parcs offers short weekend breaks (Friday to Monday) or midweek breaks (Monday to Friday) all year round and welcomes over 1.7 million guests each year, 96% of guests expressing an intention to return
• The Center Parcs concept is to provide a range of high quality accommodation and exceptional leisure facilities, set within 400 acres of protected forest environment
• This Center Parcs concept originated in Holland in 1967 and Center Parcs is now a separate entity in the UK, owned by The Blackstone Group
• In June Center Parcs released advanced booking availability for its new £250 million village, Woburn Forest. Guests can book short breaks to be taken between 1st September and 18th December 2014 and will be able to choose from a stay in either one of the 625 forest lodges or the 75 bedroom hotel
• Center Parcs has been awarded the following accolades since 2008: the Green Business Award for Biodiversity Protection, Visit Britain 5 Star Rating, Hospitality Assured, Tommy Award for Best UK Holiday Provider, Biodiversity Benchmark - Land Management, Carbon Trust Standard, Good Spa Guide Award, ISO14001, Investors in People
• Center Parcs has recently been awarded gold by Prima Baby and Pregnancy magazine for ‘Best family friendly holiday’ and announced ‘Best UK Family Holiday Provider’ in the Tommy’s Baby Friendly awards for the tenth year in a row

About ChildLine
ChildLine is a service provided by the NSPCC, registered charity numbers 216401 and SC037717. ChildLine on 0800 1111 and www.childline.org.uk is the UK’s free, 24-hour helpline for children in danger or distress. The ChildLine Schools Service was rolled out across the UK during 2011. By 2016 we hope that our volunteers will to be visiting all 22,000 primary schools across the country once every two years – reaching 1.8 million children across the UK.

The Wildlife Trusts (TWT) wildlifetrusts.org
There are 47 individual Wildlife Trusts covering the whole of the UK. All are working for an environment rich in wildlife for everyone. We have more than 800,000 members including 150,000 members of our junior branch Wildlife Watch. Our vision is to create A Living Landscape and secure Living Seas. We manage around 2,300 nature reserves and every year we advise thousands of landowners and organisations on how to manage their land for wildlife. We also run marine conservation projects around the UK, collecting vital data on the state of our seas and celebrating our amazing marine wildlife. Every year we work with thousands of schools and our nature reserves and visitor centres receive millions of visitors.  Each Wildlife Trust is working within its local communities to inspire people about the future of their area: their own Living Landscapes and Living Seas.

For more information contact:

Press Office
Center Parcs
t: 01623 821733
e: press.office@centerparcs.co.uk