Cardiff Airport extends Charity Partnership with Velindre
The National Airport for Wales has extended its Charity of the Year partnership with Velindre Cancer Centre until 2022. The Cardiff Airport team have been working with Velindre since the beginning of this year as part of the Airport’s Touchdown Programme. The partnership has allowed teams from across the Airport to work with Velindre to arrange events and activities to raise vital funds, so far raising a total of over £3,500. Given the unprecedented events of this year, and many fundraising opportunities being put on hold, Cardiff Airport has decided to continue to support Velindre through this charity partnership until March 2022, allowing for both teams to continue to collaborate and raise as much as possible over the next 18 months. All funds raised go directly to Velindre Cancer Centre, enabling the charity to provide exceptional care and support to those affected by cancer, especially during this difficult time. Velindre also supports staff training, research and other initiatives that go above and beyond what the NHS already provides, and every penny raised helps to fund this. Over the past year, Velindre and the Cardiff Airport Charity Committee have hosted fundraising activities, as well as collecting donations on site at the Airport and generous donations from staff. Some highlights include:
Raising over £500 through a challenging walk along the Wales Coastal Path from Ogmore-by-Sea to Cardiff Airport
Wear Red for Wales and Velindre Day and ‘Red-dy Steady Cook’ competition in January, which raised over £500
Holding a ‘Virtual Runway Run’ in June- on-site team members took part in a 4.8km run along the runway, with other team members and their families running the same distance ‘virtually’ in their local area, each donating £4.80 to Velindre
Three Airport Directors, Huw Lewis, Mark Bailey and Rhys Owen undertook a 500km in 31 Days challenge, involving cycling, running and walking over 500km from May 11th-June 10th, raising over £2000 collectively.
Lisa Morgan, Chair of Cardiff Airport’s Charity Committee, said: “Velindre Cancer Centre is close to the hearts of many of our team at Cardiff Airport, and we are absolutely delighted to be extending our partnership with the charity for the next financial year. “Unfortunately the pandemic has meant that we have had to put a number of our planned activities on hold, however the enthusiasm within the Airport team has remained fantastic throughout, and we’re looking forward to finding new and creative ways to fundraise over the coming year.” Andrew Morris, Head of Fundraising at Velindre Cancer Centre, added: “We are delighted that Cardiff Airport are extending their support of Velindre. The pandemic halted some great events they had planned this year, so we are really excited to be working with them again for another year and hopefully we will get some of those events off the ground. “Fundraising really does make a huge difference to Velindre, especially during these difficult times. It allows us to fund specialist nurses who are fundamental to a patient’s experience, implement projects to improve the physical environment for a patient, such as our gardens and Family Room, earlier access to cutting edge treatments, research into new treatments and specialist equipment.” Cardiff Airport is committed to making a sustainable positive impact on the community through the delivery of the Touchdown Programme, which includes charity support coordinated by the Charity Committee. To find out more about Cardiff Airport’s Touchdown Programme, please click here.
