Our charity partner Together for Short Lives treasures the same thing we do; family time, and is the leading charity that speaks out for the 49,000 children and young people who are living with life-limiting conditions in the UK.
Our aim is to raise awareness and funds to support these families and to support our local hospices that are:
- Whinfell Forest – Jigsaw Children’s Hospice
- Sherwood Forest and Head Office – Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice
- Elveden Forest – East Anglia Children’s Hospice
- Woburn Forest – Keech Children’s Hospice
- Longleat Forest – Children’s Hospice South West
Since the start of our partnership in 2016, we have raised more than £430,000 by doing lots of different events and match funding our guest donations through our Contact Centre.
How we’ve raised awareness
If you’ve visited Center Parcs, you may have seen some of our fundraising events from ducks racing down our Wild Water Rapids to teams completing as many activities as they can in one day.
Members of staff from departments across Longleat Forest brought the Center Parcs experience to Children’s Hospice South West, offering activities including face painting and massages to visiting families.
We donate a number of breaks to families supported by Together for Short Lives and recently Chris, Hannah, Jacob, Samuel and Maxwell went on a Center Parcs break. They said they ‘had such a great time, it was lovely spending time together away from the demands of every day. The staff were so very helpful, they arranged a fully adapted accommodation and we were able to keep our adapted vehicle with us for the duration of our stay.’ They went cycling, swimming and fed the wildlife that came up to their lodge. They ended their break ‘so grateful to Center Parcs and Together for Short Lives for giving us this experience and a much-needed break away’.
Duck Races
Across our villages, we have our Duck Races, where hundreds of rubber ducks travel down our rapids in a race for first place. You can sponsor a numbered duck and cheer them on when the race takes place at our Wild Water Rapids viewing points.
A two-wheel triumph
An epic five-day challenge to cycle from the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas was taken up by Andy De’Ath, Longleat Forest’s General Manager, and his friend Colin. The dedicated duo battled through high desert, forest plateaus, canyon rims, historic towns and part of Route 6, raising over £11,000 for Together for Short Lives.
All in a day
Members of staff from across our villages have been taking part in our ‘all in a day’ challenge to see who can complete as many activities across the village as possible. So, if you see them on village, please feel free to cheer them on.
London Marathon
Several members of staff have taken part in London Marathon’s to raise awareness and funds for Together for Short Lives, completing training and the 26.2 miles. This year’s runner was Carolyn Anderson who works at Sherwood Forest, she raised £3,000 when she took part in the London Marathon this year.
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