BEST WESTERN ANNOUNCES SHELTER SUPPORT

 

Best Western GB is marking World Homeless Day (Thursday 10 October 2019) by publicly launching their partnership with Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity.

Best Western has announced this affiliation at the Annual Hotel Conference (AHC) in Manchester, committing to a series of charitable events and initiatives over 12 months to raise £50,000 for the charity. The money will help to fund Shelter’s helpline, which provides vital advice and support to anyone struggling with bad housing and homelessness 365 days a year.

The leading hotel group, which represents over 260 independent hotels across the UK, has wasted no time in getting the ball rolling with its fundraising activities. Initiatives so far have included the Road to Stoke challenge, where 15 Best Western colleagues cycled 115 miles from the BWGB HQ in York to the Best Western Sales, Marketing, Revenue and Distribution  Conference in Stoke; a marathon ‘50,000 steps’ challenge at the AHC, with each step representing each pound that the hotel group has pledged to raise; a sleep-out that raised £6,000; and a team of Best Western hoteliers running the London Marathon in April 2020 aiming to raise over £12,000.

Best Western hotels across the country will also be undertaking fundraising activities throughout the year, including a national luggage tag initiative whereby guests can store their bags in exchange for a donation to Shelter.

Every year, Shelter helps millions of people struggling with bad housing or homelessness by providing advice, support and legal services to individuals. The charity also campaigns to ensure that, one day, no one will have to turn to the organisation for help.

Rob Paterson, CEO at Best Western GB, said: “We are honoured to support Shelter as we know more than anyone the importance of a safe and comfortable place to stay and call home. With the support of our partners and guests, thousands more families will be able to find and keep a safe and comfortable home, as every £10 raised helps Shelter to pick up the phone to individuals in desperate housing need.”

Andy Harris, Director of Fundraising at Shelter, said: “We are thrilled that Best Western has chosen Shelter as a charity partner so that together we can fight bad housing and homelessness. The money raised by Best Western employees and guests will be used to help fund our national helpline and webchat, which is open 365 days a year, providing free advice to tens of thousands of people. For every person they support our expert advisers can be the difference between someone keeping their home or losing it.”

Donations to Best Western’s fundraising campaign for Shelter can be made here: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/BestWesternforShelter

 

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Imagery can be downloaded here: https://we.tl/t-kweMfa9CdC

Caption: Dawn Theaker (Marketing Manager), Rob Paterson (CEO), Stephanie Rook (Marketing Manager)

The Road to Stoke charity bike ride video can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfclynlNeYw&feature=youtu.be 

For further information, please email Nicky Swire or Eleanor Webster at [email protected] or telephone 0113 243 1117.

About Best Western GB

Best Western is a brilliantly different collection of independent hotels proudly giving a personal welcome to guests for over 70 years. With over 260 distinctive hotels in Great Britain alone, there is more to explore with Best Western.

Best Western GB is a retained-profit membership organisation that helps hotels maintain their independence. Committed to representing the views of its independently owned member hotels, Best Western GB tackles key industry issues on their behalf, including the effects of Government policies and legislation, industry changes and environmental impact on the heartbeat of the Great British hospitality industry.

To find out more visit Best Western GB's Media Centre: www.bestwestern.co.uk/company/best-western-media-centre

About Shelter

Shelter helps millions of people every year struggling with bad housing or homelessness through our advice, support and legal services. And we campaign to make sure that, one day, no one will have to turn to us for help. For free and independent advice from Shelter visit: https://england.shelter.org.uk/get_help

Sources:

About Shelter’s helpline: Shelter’s free, emergency helpline is open 365 days a year, from 8am to 8pm on weekdays and 9am to 5pm on weekends. Our expert housing advisers can support people in urgent need of housing advice, including those who are homeless; at risk of becoming homeless soon; at risk of harm because of their housing situation or feeling very overwhelmed by it.