The Association has been proud to support ‘Variety, the Children’s Charity’ who help to improve the lives of millions of disadvantaged and disabled children throughout the UK.
Since the relationship began in 2015, the Association has raised over £1.6 million which to date has funded a total of 34 Variety Sunshine Coaches for schools, non-profit making groups and organisations to use for the benefit of sick, disabled or disadvantaged children.
Each Sunshine Coach offers specially adapted and accessible transport for educational, recreational and vocational purposes, taking disabled and disadvantaged children out into the community and on fantastic days out, activities they would otherwise be unable to undertake. These important activities help them to feel supported and less isolated, integrating them into local communities and allowing them to experience new people, places and activities.
Each coach is presented directly to the recipient school/non-profit organisation usually alongside the local MP, enabling the Association to see first-hand the direct impact of members’ donations, making a very real difference and changing lives: wherever possible the Association also tries to ensure that each Sunshine coach is awarded to a school/nonprofit organisation in a region where a member has venues that will have raised funds towards the coach. This helps to promote and harness the support of local clubs and their customers and importantly ensures that money raised locally goes directly back into the community.
In addition to the Sunshine Coaches funds raised by Association members for Variety helps fund very specialised apparatus for disabled children, such as powered and sports wheelchairs, hoists to assist in the bathroom or bedroom, and sensory rooms, helping families who couldn’t afford to pay for this kind of expensive equipment.