£150,000 raised for Springboard Charity 21st birthday celebrations

Leading industry charity Springboard raised nearly £150,000 at its 21st birthday celebrations at London's Grosvenor House, a JW Marriott hotel, on Friday night.

The money raised will go towards helping young, unemployed and disadvantaged people to obtain worthwhile careers in the hospitality industry.

Springboard and the Springboard Charity chief executive Anne Pierce said: "The Grosvenor House and the DRP Group deserve a massive thank-you for their professionalism and incredible work in the build-up to the event, as do Peter Hancock our compere, and Richard Mansfield, our MC, along with auctioneer John "Fingers" Fingleton. With our guests' help and support we managed to raise a truly magnificent figure."

In addition to the money raised on the night, Heiko Figge, managing director of Guoman & Thistle, presented the charity with a cheque for £100,021 (pictured) following a donation-pledge campaign run across the company's 38 hotels. As well as encouraging guests to donate an additional £1 to their hotel stay, members of staff also took part in sponsored bike rides, parachute jumps, car washes, bowling championships, football matches and an attempt to break the bouncy castle world record.

Commenting on the money donated by Guoman and Thistle, Pierce said: "We were absolutely thrilled and amazed to receive the cheque presentation from Guoman and Thistle's 'pound on a bill' campaign and that the whole initiative was supported by Sir Alex Ferguson, a real hero of mine. This incredible donation will enable us to significantly help more young, disadvantaged people - helping them develop the skills and motivation to pursue a worthwhile career in hospitality which otherwise would not be open to them - particularly those beneficiaries who would otherwise face a lifetime of worklessness or even end up homeless or in prison if it were not from our intervention. What Guoman and Thistle have done will really make a difference to hundreds of young people's lives - we cannot thank them enough."

Springboard to host 21st anniversary fundraiser >>

Dale Parmenter and DRP Group win special Springboard award >>

By Amanda Afiya

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