Zest 4 Leisure has announced Action for Children as its charity partner for 2018. The charity, which has been operating for 148 years, helps disadvantaged children across the UK and works closely with other charities, local authorities and health services.
Aiming to raise £10,000 across the year, employees of Zest 4 Leisure are gearing up for a number of challenges, the first of which is the iconic London Marathon. Managing Director, Steve Morgan, is aiming to complete the Marathon alongside two colleagues.
Steve said: “There are so many children in the UK that need help and support and I know the work that Action for Children does makes a real and lasting difference to the lives of thousands of children across the UK and particularly in Mold and Flintshire.
“I hope our efforts at the London Marathon encourage others to get involved by donating or raising funds for Action for Children, enabling it to continue investing in its vital research and its help and support for so many children.”
Later in the year there are plans for 50 PLUS Zest 4 Leisure employees to run the Flintshire 10k challenge dressed as pandas following the success of 2017 when 45 completed the distance in record time. Other fundraising challenges will include more marathons, 10k road races and an IRONMAN triathlon.
Supporting local communities and, in particular, children and young people is something that Zest feels strongly about, hence the selection of Action for Children as the charity partner for 2018.
In the UK alone, there are over 1.5 million children suffering from some form of neglect. All money raised by Zest 4 Leisure this year will go towards helping the charity continue to do their vital work so ever pound donated will make a big difference.
For example, just £5 could pay for emergency overnight support for a young person on the verge of homelessness. £10 could help pay for swimming and hydrotherapy lessons for a child with a disability. £20 could pay for food parcels to help parents feed nutritious meals to their children and a £50 donation could pay for a one-to-one counselling session for a child who has been abused.
Nikki Booth, Action for Children’s fundraiser in North Wales and Shropshire said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have been chosen to be Zest 4 Leisure’s charity of the year in 2018.
“We have seen some of the extraordinary events this longstanding family-run business has been involved in over the years to raise money as well as Steve Morgan’s uncanny ability to motivate people to run marathons for other good causes! We are incredibly grateful we will now be the focus of their endeavours this year.”
Zest 4 Leisure, a family run company, has a long-standing history of raising money for good causes and in the last five years it has specifically chosen to support just one charity each year. Past fundraising efforts include a variety of events, from marathons, cycling to Paris, the Welsh 14 Peaks Iron Man challenges to sponsored football matches and even an ‘It’s A Knockout’ event.
