A group of Whitley Bay travel agents recently organised a coach trip to raise money for a local charity which supports disabled people.

The team from Hays Travel in the Park View Shopping Centre took almost 50 customers to Harrogate for the day, with the funds from ticket sales going to the North Tyneside Disability Forum.

Hays Travel staff attended the trip, entertaining the passengers on route with bingo, raffles and domino cards, which raised even more money for the charity which supports disabled people in the local community.

The charity coach trip raised a whopping £1,020 for North Tyneside Disability Forum.

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.

Darren Wetherell, the branch manager, said: “The coach trip is a fab way to engage with our community and is attended by a lot of our regulars throughout the year.

“We chose North Tyneside Disability Forum as they are a local charity to the branch who help a lot of people in our community.

“They have a fab centre which is open to everyone who needs a little help, and they have lots of activities available. We like to work with local charities who do not get a lot of funding nationally as it keeps the money in our community.”

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