PRESS RELEASE
April 7, 2016
British Airways i360 launches new charity partnership by selling graffiti hoardings
British Airways i360 today announces a partnership with local charity the Trust for Developing Communities (TDC).
The charity provides advice, support and training for disadvantaged communities in Brighton and Hove, empowering them to aim high and work together to effect positive change.
British Airways i360 will support TDC’s child and youth projects by raising awareness and funds. It launches the partnership by auctioning the graffiti hoardings that stood between the construction site and the beach and were painted last summer by artists including Aroe, Gary, Jiro, AVK, Morf, Warg, Vodka, Rebus and Owed.
British Airways i360 chief executive Eleanor Harris said: “We are building part of the city’s future and it has always been part of our vision to inspire the next generation to aim higher and go further. This is why we are proud to be partnering with local charity TDC to support their projects for children and young people in the city.”
“We have already committed to giving every child who attends a state school in Brighton and Hove one free visit to British Airways i360 during their school career. We hope our partnership with TDC can help make a positive difference for young people in Brighton and Hove.”
In 2014/2015, TDC worked directly with almost 600 children and young people in Brighton and Hove. It arranged 6,800 hours per week of volunteering, delivered training programmes and ran more than 400 meetings, events and projects. TDC workers also helped community groups raise £250,000 of funding and grants.
Popular TDC projects include the annual Wild Park Youth Festival (organised with Brighton and Hove Youth Collective), the BevenTEEN bulletin, which is written and edited by children, and the Bevendean Summer Programme, organised and funded by teenagers from the Bevendean Activities Group.
TDC chief executive Linda Saltwell said: “From the top of British Airways i360 we will be able to see Brighton and Hove, and the projects we work on, spread before us.
“Brighton and Hove has some very affluent areas, but it also has some of the most deprived wards in the country. Some 46% of the city’s children live in the bottom 20% of England’s wards and in some areas child poverty is more than 50%.
“Research tells us that poor children can become poor adults, and we know there are huge health divides in the city that correlate to the mapping of child poverty.”
TDC chair of trustees Paul Bramwell said: “Our trustees and staff are thrilled to be chosen as the charity partner for British Airways i360. This partnership will build on mutual aims around innovating and inspiring young people.”
TDC trustee and MD of Propellernet Nikki Gatenby said: “This partnership with British Airways i360 could help us extend our essential work across the city, for example, putting more youth workers on the streets where they can reach young people on their own turf.”