The Flight Centre Schools Triathlon hopes to become the schools’ equivalent of the London Marathon.
Flight Centre is pleased to announce the Flight Centre Schools Triathlon has raised £253,500 (with totals still rising!) with double the number of schools taking part this year.
The Flight Centre Schools Triathlon was a series of four events encouraging children aged 7-13 to participate in triathlons in a safe and non-competitive environment while raising money for charity. The following schools who took part in the Flight Centre Schools Triathlon 2017 raised:
- Royal Russell School, Croydon: £60,500
- Bradfield College, Berkshire: £55,400
- Cranleigh School, Surrey: £69,800
- Marlborough College, Wiltshire: £67,800
More than 2,500 children took part in teams of four at running, swimming and cycling. To ensure the events are inclusive for everyone, only the team’s overall time (rather than individual times for each child) were be recorded. The host schools generously donated their facilities to the charity for free and created the opportunity for hundreds of children to have a fun first introduction to triathlons.
The Flight Centre Schools Triathlon is backed by Restless Development, an international development charity that puts young people at the very heart of dealing with the issues that affect them, their communities and their countries. The events raised funds for Restless Development and the chosen charities of the host and participating schools.
Martin Reader, Headmaster of Cranleigh School said: “What a fantastic event! I stood anonymously marshalling children at the bicycle handover for a couple of hours. I lost count of the times I heard the words, “that was so much fun’ or ‘that was brilliant’. They won’t forget the day, which means they are more likely to remember the cause.”
Jim Sewell, Trustee of Restless, said: “It was brilliant to partner with such great schools and see the children throwing themselves into it. Their efforts will help thousands of children in developing countries access health education and life skills which will transform their lives. The children have really understood that they can make a difference and the combination of sport and charity in a children’s event has been incredibly powerful. I’m so excited about the potential for this event – we see it becoming the schools’ equivalent of the London Marathon.”
Chris Galanty, Managing Director of Flight Centre Europe and South Africa, said: “It’s a privilege to be the lead sponsor of an event that encourages young people to both get active and think about the needs of others. Flight Centre and Restless Development are a natural fit; Restless Development is all about young people trying to change the world and our purpose is to open up the world for those who want to see it.””
In 2016, two schools – Royal Russell School in Croydon and Bradfield College in Berkshire – took part in the first ever Flight Centre Schools Triathlon, raising an amazing £110,000. With four schools taking part in 2017, and each participant committing to raise a minimum of £50. The charity plans to add many more Triathlons over the next few years and aims to raise £1 million by its fifth year.
Offering all aspects of travel from the widest choice of airfares to tailor-made holidays, Flight Centre is one of the world’s largest travel retailers. It has over 80 stores throughout the UK, with new stores opening regularly, and is approved by the Good Housekeeping Institute.
In addition to the fun on the day, Flight Centre offered some great prizes for both parents and kids: parents were in with the chance to win a £1,000 Flight Centre travel voucher just by registering their child for the Triathlon or signing up at an event. Kids were able to enter the ‘Best Team Photo’ competition for a chance to win a family pass to Harry Potter World for all four members.
Leading race organisers Human Race, the experts in mass sport participation events, was responsible for the events management of the triathlons.
Any school interested in taking part in or hosting a 2018 Triathlon event should contact Jim Sewell at: [email protected].
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For further press information, please contact:
Melissa Hobson/Natalie Garland/James Brooke.
Rooster PR
T: +44 (0)20 3440 8927
E: [email protected]
About the Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG)
The Flight Centre Travel Group (www.fctgl.com) is one of the world’s largest travel companies with over 18,000 staff and 2500 stores across its leisure, corporate and wholesale businesses. The company’s turnover in 2014/2015 financial year was £9 billion. After starting with one shop 30 years ago, FCTG has enjoyed remarkable growth and is one of the top 100 publicly listed companies on the Australian Securities Exchange.
All specialist brands under the FCTG Corporate banner offer 24/7 support and the benefits of a blended offline/online solution; global negotiation strength and unique and superior business travel products.
About Flight Centre
The team at Flight Centre are experts when it comes to travel and are committed to providing customers with a great experience. The company’s success comes down to its people, experienced Travel Experts who are passionate about finding their customers the holiday they want, for the price they want.
Since establishing the first Flight Centre store in 1995, the business has grown its team of Travel Experts to include over 80 stores within the United Kingdom, with new stores opening regularly. Worldwide, Flight Centre has an amazing 2,500 stores across the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, United States, Canada and more, making Flight Centre one of the largest and most successful independent travel retailers in the world. With its global reach and close relationships with the world’s best travel providers, the company is able to provide competitive travel deals.
The Flight Centre team can organise anything from flights to holidays, hotels, car hire, tours, travel insurance, visas and more. They also have dedicated First and Business Class flight teams and Business Travel teams to help with any specialised travel needs.
For more information go to www.flightcentre.co.uk, www.facebook.com/FlightCentreUK, www.twitter.com/flightcentre_UK or www.instagram.com/flightcentreuk.
For further press information about Restless Development, please contact:
Tessa Murray
Restless Development
T: +44 (0)7768 740907
E: [email protected]
About Restless Development
Restless Development is a global agency for youth-led development. It supports young people to demand and deliver a just and sustainable world for all. This global agency is run out of strategic hubs in ten countries across Africa, Asia and in the UK and USA, with a wider network of partners across the world. It works to make sure young people have a voice, a living, sexual rights, and are leaders in preventing and solving the world’s challenges. Restless Development has been working with young people since 1985 and its work is led by thousands of young people every year. We listen to young people, our work is led by young people and together we help young people make lasting change in their communities and countries
For more information go to www.restlessdevelopment.org, www.facebook.com/restlessdev or www.twitter.com/restlessdev.
About Human Race
Human Race is the largest and most diverse mass participation events company in the UK, with a portfolio of over 55 events each year including Triathlon, Cycling, Running, Open Water Swimming, Duathlon, Off-Road, Corporate and Youth events. The company aims to provide market leading and innovative event experiences and delivery. Working closely with a range of expert partners, its aim is to provide friendly, professional and considered event experiences for every participant, from their first enquiry to the moment they cross the finish line and beyond.
As well as catering for regular participants and offering a variety of event types, distances and difficulties, Human Race is constantly helping to grow numbers of sports participants within the UK by inspiring tens of thousands of first time participants each year. Working with a range of charity partners, millions of pounds are raised each year through participation in Human Race events and we continue to find innovative ways to maximise the amount of money that is generated.
Human Race staff were heavily engaged with the London Olympic Games with many of the crew working on the Olympic Triathlon. John Lunt, founder of Human Race was the sport manager working on the event for 4.5 years.
For more information, contact [email protected], call 0208 391 3913 or visit www.facebook.com/humanraceevents or www.twitter.com/humanraceevents.
