Chichester holiday park smashes charity target for hospice
Staff at a Chichester holiday park in West Sussex have teamed with members of the local community to create a four-figure windfall for a local hospice.
A total of just over £4,500 was raised by Chichester Lakeside Holiday Park and handed to the St Wilfrid’s Hospice appeal this week, and was the result of a fundraising effort involving many of the park’s 60-plus employees.
For the past 12 months, the park has persuaded guests to put their hands in their pockets in a good cause by arranging a raft of different fun events.
Summer fares, Christmas parties and Easter Egg competitions all played a part – together with car boot sales, competitions, and a range of fundraising activities for youngsters.
According to park administration manager Sharon Dawes, the aim was to beat the £3,500 total raised by the park last year for the Arundel children’s hospice Chestnut Tree House.
And when the tally was counted up, staff were delighted to find the target topped by over £1000.
However, said Sharon, the size of the highly-rated park’s charity cheque also owed much to the support provided by the local community’s residents and businesses.
In particular, she said, the park was thrilled at the number of prize donations offered by nearby traders, ranging from major supermarkets to a local farm shop.
These, along with gifts from members of staff, helped swell the takings from activities such as draws and tombolas which were supported both by local residents and park guests.
Holidaymakers can bring their own tent, touring caravan or motorhome to stay at Chichester Lakeside, or rent a luxury caravan holiday home on the park.
The majority of guests, however, own one of the 370-plus holiday caravans and timber lodges in the grounds, many of which are sited around its 200 acres of picturesque fishing lakes.
Chichester Lakeside’s cheque was presented by Sharon Dawes to St Wilfrid’s Hospice charity co-ordinator Alisa Lakeman-Ford at the charity’s headquarters in nearby Grosvenor Road.
Thanking everyone at the park for their tremendous effort, Alisa said that the hospice receives only 13 percent of its funding from the NHS and needs to raise an additional £6.7 million each year.
This largely comes, she said, through the support of the local community – and that Chichester Lakeside Park had shown itself to be a very kind and generous neighbour.
The park is one of 25 Southern England parks in membership of Park Holidays UK. For more information see www.parkholidays.com
