The 5 th January 2009 saw a great announcement from Heathrow Airport. 2008 was the first year that it had created a charity of the year for itself, and while everyone at the airport clearly hoped that this new idea would be a success, no one was quite prepared for what they actually achieved.
The charity chosen was certainly a worthwhile one. Marie Curie Cancer Care is often recognised for its yellow daffodil emblem and the blue and yellow colours it uses for its logo and website. And it was the charity of the year last year for Heathrow Airport – who raised well over the amount they were hoping to bag for the charity.
Instead of achieving the £100,000 they were aiming for, they managed to smash through that target and ended up with an amazing £240,000 to give to the worthwhile charity. That’s nearly a quarter of a million pounds going directly to the people who make it easier for those suffering from cancer to get on with their lives.
Marie Curie Cancer Care provides a real lifeline, not only to those who have cancer but to their families as well. Qualified and experienced nurses visit sufferers in their own homes, and talk to them about various aspects of the illness and how to manage it. But they also help the family members surrounding that person, because they can find it just as hard to cope, albeit in different ways.
The money that Heathrow Airport raised will go towards helping these nurses continue their wonderful work all over the country. And it wasn’t just the staff members that work at the airport who raised all the cash; they were helped towards the final total by the many millions of passengers who pass through the airport each year.
The charity was voted for by the staff themselves, and this process is set to continue in the future, after the phenomenal success of this first year. The charity for 2009 will be a different one, but there is no doubt that Marie Curie Cancer Care will work hard at making those much needed funds stretch as far as possible in the New Year for those that need the help the most.
One of the best things about this news is that it helps you to see another side of what is essentially a huge place. Heathrow Airport is a busy, thriving and pretty efficient place. You don’t tend to think of it as having a hand in boosting the fortunes of charities like this. But they have shown that in the first year of attempting to raise funds for charity in lots of different ways, they can succeed in this area too.
It is hoped that as the drive to raise money for various different charities continues into the future, many more people will benefit from the events going on to raise that cash. And it seems to have brought the staff together in different ways as well!