Posted on Friday 25 January

Operating since 2005 Centre-West has been working to bridge the gaps which lie between public services and young people living in deprived areas. This is done by providing a variety of sports activities and offering training, qualifications and leadership opportunities for young people to achieve their full potential.

At our latest meeting, the trustees granted the project £6,000 to continue delivering their volunteer programme. Last year, our funding helped Hat-Trick take a team of volunteers to Estonia to referee a youth football tournament. The trip challenged young people to push past their comfort zones and experience other sporting cultures.

Jordon (16) said, “I really enjoyed the experience. It means a lot that you chose to take me and as for the experience, it was the best ever because I have gained more knowledge and it has allowed me to practice my skills as a referee in order to become the best I can in myself.”

Emma Brown, Community Sport Manager commented, “This funding support from Hays Travel Foundation has allowed Hat-Trick to work with young people in the most disadvantaged areas of Newcastle upon Tyne through our volunteer programme. This has enabled Hat-Trick coaches to recruit and work with young people developing their coaching skills whilst gaining qualifications which have led to further employment opportunities. The Hat-Trick team would like to say ‘Thank-you’ to the Hays Travel Foundation for your invaluable support to this programme.”

We look forward to seeing what other kind of activities the charity will deliver this year!

Posted on Friday, Jan 2019

Everybody who has ever been to a pantomime show knows that it is a unique form of entertainment with a little for everybody. As is tradition, Hays Travel is happy to support The Little Panto with the big heart and this year over 400 children enjoyed a performance of Beauty and the Beast at the Customs House in South Shields.

Hays Travel’s consumer events manager, Mandy Sousa, said: “What an amazing day! It was a huge pleasure for me to represent the Hays Travel Foundation for a second year at the Customs House Pantomime. To see the children joining in with the exceptional cast is always a great sight to see, especially as some of these children have never been to a pantomime. It filled my heart with joy to see all the smiling faces, as well as the booing, cheering and singing along!” Tickets were distributed to several schools and charitable organisation that the Hays Travel Foundation has previously worked with.

Kimberley Elliott, Fundraiser & Events Coordinator at The Kayaks was happy to be able to join us for a consecutive year “The Kayaks could not have enjoyed themselves more, the panto was amazing and so much fun. This is the second year Hays Travel have invited our support group for children with special needs and disabilities along and this year we had 70 of our members attending and joining in the fun. We would like to thank Hays Travel and all who organised this event for allowing our charity to be part of it, it is fantastic that our Kayak kids got to experience such a well organised and special event bringing groups, charities and other organisation together in one place to have a wonderful time.”

This year, for the first time, the Hays Travel Foundation has also sponsored over 400 children to attend a pantomime show in the South of England. This was a performance of Dick Whittington at the Lighthouse Theatre in Poole.

As usual, it is a pleasure being able to bring a smile to so many faces. We look forward to having an amazing 2019 and wish all our charitable partners a very successful and enjoyable year.

Posted on Monday Nov 18

During our September meeting, the trustees voted in favour of a £5,050 grant to Success4all in order for them to develop a mobile learning space.

Success4All is a Newcastle-based educational charity, established in 2006, that fights educational inequality by giving access to tutoring, learning resources, clubs and summer schools to those in less affluent areas. Building on their foundation, the charity want to expand into other North-East areas where they are yet to reach.

They plan on doing so by using their newly converted double decker bus as a mobile, digital Learning Hub. “Our Learning Bus, is an amazing opportunity for us to reach more children and young people in communities we currently struggle to reach. It means that we are able to make a wider impact with our STEM and Coding Clubs in the rural areas of the North East. We are so excited to get the Bus on the road, please watch this space.” Busola Afolabi

We have been asked to not share too much about what we saw inside, however we can say that this project has the potential to benefit many in the local community. We are definitely excited to see the Learning Bus out and about next year!