Hilton Foundation ventures into Europe to make a bigger difference:

Howard Lake | 23 September 2009 | News

Hilton Foundation ventures into Europe to make a bigger difference:

Hilton hotels in continental Europe will be joining their UK and Ireland counterparts in making a big difference to children with disabilities by taking part in this year’s “Small Change Big Difference” campaign for the first time.

The annual Hilton Foundation fundraiser invites guests staying at the Hilton family of brand hotels to add an optional £1 or €1 onto their room bill during October, November and December. Last year’s campaign raised £120,891 for Save the Children and Irish charity Barretstown.

This year will see 37 hotels in 11 EU countries joining the 80 hotels in the UK and Ireland already taking part in the fundraising challenge. Newly participating hotels include Hilton Prague, Hilton Copenhagen and the Conrad Brussels.

All proceeds raised from the campaign will be used to support children with disabilities. Each participating European country will choose a local charity working with disabled children to support with their fundraising. Money raised in the UK and Ireland will be ring fenced for charities working in this area and every net penny raised will be distributed in grants providing, amongst other things, specialist educational and sporting equipment, care facilities, training and activity based learning.

Simon Vincent, President Hilton Europe and Chairman of the Hilton in the Community Foundation Trustees, said:

“This is a very exciting campaign and one that I hope our generous guests will support once again. Hilton in the Community Foundation is delighted to be working with hotels in Europe on this campaign for the first time. This winter we can together ensure that children with disabilities get the support they need. Your extra £1 or €1 can add up to make a big difference to children’s lives.”

Since the campaign’s inception in 2004, “Small Change Big Difference” has raised over £825,000 for charities working with disadvantaged children, including Children with Leukaemia, Barretstown, Children’s Hospices UK and Save the Children.

Ends-

Notes to Editors:

For more information please contact:
John Townsend – Hilton in the Community Foundation Press Officer
Tel: 0207 605 7733
Email: jo***********@hi****.com

About the Hilton in the Community Foundation:

The Hilton in the Community Foundation was founded in 2000 as Hilton Hotels’ charity dedicated to supporting young people in need. Focused on Education and Health, grants supporting disadvantaged young people are made in the UK and Ireland, while in the event of international disaster; grants are made to relief organisations at the Trustees’ discretion.
In 2008 the Foundation awarded £1.24 million to 294 charitable organisations benefiting over 200,000 young people.

The Foundation’s core costs are funded by Hilton Hotels, so every net pound raised goes directly to good causes. Donations are funded almost entirely through the generous efforts and contributions of Hilton team members, family and friends and with the support of Hilton guests and company suppliers.
Please visit our website: www.hilton-foundation.org.uk

About ‘Small Change, Big Difference’

Campaign outline
Small Change, Big Difference is the annual guest facing campaign organised by Hilton in the Community Foundation. Money is raised by guests donating £1 or €1 on their hotel bill over the festive period (October, November and December since 2007). Since the campaign’s inception in 2004, the campaign has raised over £825,000 for charities working with disadvantaged children, including Children with Leukaemia, Barretstown, Association of Children’s Hospices and Save the Children.

Participating Hotels
Since 2004, the campaign has been run in all UK and Ireland hotels and in 2008, was trialled in seven hotels in Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Greece, Malta, and Austria (in addition to Australia and Japan). The seven European hotels trialled the campaign for two months and raised a total net fund of £7,858.

Based on the success of the trial, this year the campaign will be extended to all hotels in those countries as well as other European countries which are able to participate once they have received legal and fiscal approval.

Charitable Theme
In past years, one charity has been chosen up front to benefit from 100% of the net proceeds from the campaign. A high profile charity was chosen so that staff and guests would instantly recognise the brand and cause. With the expansion into Europe, and the campaign becoming more recognised in UK and Ireland, the campaign will be led by a theme rather than a beneficiary charity. This will enable more than one charity to benefit from the campaign proceeds, and for the charities to be local to the country raising the funds.

The Board of Trustees have agreed that this year’s theme in Europe will be ‘children with disabilities’. The benefiting charities of funds raised by hotels in UK & Ireland will be selected from those charities applying for central funding from the Foundation and who work with disabled children. For Europe, the European Committee will ask the General Managers in each country to agree on preferably one local charity to benefit from the campaign proceeds from that country

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.