'Float your boat' for Abta LifeLine charity

The association’s main charitable drive is being held from March 7-11 with those taking part invited to “Float Your Boat for LifeLine”.

Having seen more than £5,000 raised in last year’s event, which saw the industry make a donation to compete with their paper plane, this year the charity has set its sights on raising more than £10,000.

Abta LifeLine director Trudie Drake said: “We’re hoping that staff members of travel companies are going to build their boats and float them for this.

“We also want companies to hold their own little competitions with the boats, whether that means floating them in a sink or if they have a lake or stream down the road from their offices, that would be fantastic.

“If we can raise £10,000 this year then that would be great; the more people and companies which get involved, the more likely are to do so.”

Last year’s paper plane challenge was picked up across the industry, with companies including Travel 2, Midcounties Co-operative Travel, Sunvil and Kuoni all taking part. Drake said anyone wishing to help the charity and show off their boat-building skills can share a picture of their boats on Twitter using #BigCharityWeek while making a donation of £3.

Donations can be made by either sending the message ALCW16 £3 to 70070 or by going to justgiving.com/abta Drake said travel trade members can raise money in other ways using the nautical theme, with ideas including having a pirates dress-down day at work or a themed cake sale. Non-nautical ideas will be welcome providing they raise money, she added.