Guoman and Thistle Hotels raise £100k for Springboard

The money, which will be used by Springboard to help young, unemployed and disadvantaged people find careers in the industry, was raised through a number of fundraising activities at Guoman's four and Thistle's 33 hotels across the UK.

Guoman's general managers and Thistle's senior teams encouraged staff to take part in sponsored marathons, parachute jumps and a bouncy castle world record breaker with many employees using their own time to train for and take part in events.

Thistle Brighton raised the largest amount of the campaign by hosting special charity Mother's Day lunches, which raised £10k and hotels also added a discretionary £1 to bills for guests to donate towards the final charity donation of £100k. The hotel group then added a final £21 to the total to recognise the charity's 21st anniversary.

Developing talent​

Heiko Figge, managing director of Guoman and Thistle Hotels said: "As a group, we remain passionate about industry learning and believe in contributing to skills and actively developing talent within our industry. This is why we committed to Springboard and from the day we made that pledge, our colleagues within every one of our UK properties has made it their personal mission to reach the target.

"Charities like Springboard are essential to the hotel industry, so it is only right that we should support them in turn."

Springboard UK chairman Stephen Moss said he was 'delighted' by the donation and underlined the need for industry support to continue its work developing talent for the future.

"We need major hospitality players like Guoman and Thistle to fly the flag for our work supporting young people, disadvantaged groups and the unemployed into inspirational careers and opportunities within the industry," he said.
"This fantastic effort will ensure that Springboard can continue its vital work in encouraging these groups into meaningful positions and making a real difference to people's lives."