A group of Redcar travel agents who organised a family fun day have raised £950 for the Great North Air Ambulance.

The team from Hays Travel on the town’s High Street set up a tombola, ‘guess the weight of the suitcase’ game, and colouring competition, with free refreshments for everyone to cool down.

Redcar Hays Travel branch manager, Louise Dixon, said: “It was a fab day and I’m so proud of our success! Our customers and people in the town really got involved, we loved it! We were so lucky with the weather too, it was a glorious sunny day which helped. 

“We are a coastal branch, and the air ambulance is often in attendance in the area alongside the coast guard – plus Emma from their fundraising team used to work for Hays Travel – so we thought it would be great to help with a fundraising event as they are not NHS-funded and rely on donations and fundraisers.

“The air ambulance is a valuable fourth emergency service which brings pre-hospital emergency care to the scene, rescuing hundreds of severely injured or ill patients every year, so a very worthy cause.”

Hays Travel is the UK’s largest independent travel agent, with branches across the UK – all committed to supporting their customers and the local communities they serve. 

Each Hays Travel branch is provided with a £500 budget to use for fundraising and charity work in their local area; £200 of this is to be used to fundraise for charities which support young people’s mental health, and the other £300 can be used for charities chosen by the branch.

In the last year, Hays Travel’s Local Community Partnership initiative across its retail network has donated almost £170,000 to local charities.