Date published: 11 January 2023 by Katie Inglis

A huge thank you to Chessington Garden Centre who raised an amazing total of £9,698, following their Halloween and Christmas events.

During the October half-term Rainbow Trust and Chessington Garden Centre teamed up to provide Halloween themed games and activities for their visitors. From guess the weight of the pumpkin, Target shooting and a wide variety of arts and crafts, there was something for everyone. Another big thank you to the wonderful team of volunteers from K2 Corporate Mobility, St James Group Ltd, Reeds School, and TLC Marketing.

A few weeks later Chessington Garden Centre continued to support Rainbow Trust during their Christmas Grotto, welcoming donations at the wishing well on the way to meet Father Christmas.

At a time when families across the country are being significantly impacted by the cost-of-living crisis, this level of fundraising is making an incredible difference to families who are currently having to choose between paying for electricity to keep their child’s life-saving equipment running and putting food on the table. This incredible total is enough to cover the cost of two vehicles used by Rainbow Trust Family Workers. Many families are struggling to pay for fuel costs during these challenging times and cannot rely on public transport as it can be detrimental to their child’s already compromised immune systems. Having a Family Support Worker take them to and from hospital appointments can help eliminate this concern.

Jamie Port, Chessington Garden Centre’s Marketing and Events Manager, said:

“Every year we love working with the amazing team at Rainbow Trust, the work they do really cannot be overstated. In 2022 we were lucky enough to work with them during both our Halloween Activities week and out Christmas Period as our charity of choice for our Christmas Wonderland 2022. In addition, it gives me a huge pleasure to be able to run the London Marathon 2023 in association with Rainbow Trust this year. We are thrilled with the results this year and very much look forward to 2023 and supporting a charity that is close to the business’ heart”

Katherine Brooks, our Corporate and Community Fundraising Manager at Rainbow Trust, said:

“We always look forward to working with Chessington Garden Centre and are incredibly grateful for the support they provide in enabling us to run engaging events with the local community. Thank you to everyone who came along and participated in the Halloween activities and competitions, it was lots of fun! As always, we were impressed by the wonderful Christmas Grotto this year and extremely grateful to have benefited from not only the wishing well but also the charity walk-through between Christmas and New Year. This is a substantial amount of money that will make a big difference to families caring for a seriously ill child. A huge thank you to everyone who contributed, and to Chessington Garden Centre for making it all possible”

The fundraising doesn’t stop there as Chessington Garden Centre’s amazing Marketing and Events Manager, Jamie Port will be running the London Marathon in April on behalf of Rainbow Trust, and we can’t wait to be there to support him along his way! If you would also like to contribute towards Jamie’s brilliant fundraising effort, please visit his site here.

Thank you so much Chessington Garden Centre – we can’t wait to work with you again in 2023.

If you are interested in becoming a corporate partner of Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity, get in touch with Oliver at [email protected]