Hilton London Stansted raise record amount for Essex sport disability charity

A STANSTED hotel has raised thousands of pounds for a charity which encourages young people with disabilities in Essex to take part in sport.

An ambitious athletic fundraiser at the Hilton London Stansted saw participants virtually circumnavigate the circumference of the earth. Around the World in a Day was an event organised by Hilton in the Community Foundation which saw over 75 Hilton hotels across Europe work together to virtually cover the 24,901.55 miles needed to cover the earth’s circumference.

Each hotel chose a charity to fundraise for as part of the process, with the team in Stansted managing 633 miles and raising an incredible �8829 for The Panathlon Foundation, the highest amount raised by any individual hotel in the UK.

The hotel’s general manager Andrew Brett said: “We were absolutely delighted to see so much support for the event and were so impressed by the commitment of participants to raise so much money and cover so many miles for a fantastic local cause.

“I would like to thank everyone who took part and helped to make a difference to local children’s lives.”

All of the proceeds from the event in Stansted will be used to support Panathlon’s work providing free training courses, specialist equipment, coaching and multi-sport competitions in various towns around Essex.

Young disabled people with a range of abilities come together and are able to compete in different sports as a result of this support.

Ashley Iceton from the charity said: “We will use these funds to help young disabled people. Panathlon will provide sports equipment and mini ‘Paralympic’ style competitions to hundreds of disabled young people in Essex in 2011.”