A Variety Sunshine Coach has been presented by The Bingo Association Chief Executive, Miles Baron, to pupils at Carnforth School in Worcester. This Sunshine Coach is the 28th donated by The Bingo Association in the past four years. Also in attendance at the presentation were Mark Jepp, Managing Director at Majestic Bingo, Peter Reeves, General Manager at Majestic Bingo in Worcester, James Taylor, Head of HR at Majestic Bingo and Julie Whitehouse, General Manager at Buzz Bingo in Worcester.

The Sunshine Coach will be used every day to support children from the most vulnerable families, enabling them to improve their attendance and punctuality, and in turn their academic achievements. The Sunshine Coach will support educational visits such as a visit to a forest, along with the opportunity to participate in cross-school and sporting events, enabling the students to gain valuable real-life experiences that other children take for granted.

Variety’s Sunshine Coaches have helped improve the lives of thousands of disabled or disadvantaged children across the UK. The coaches enable schools to take children on education and recreational days out allowing children to explore places they would otherwise never have visited.

Sara Wood, Head of School, Carnforth School said:
“We are most grateful to Variety and the Bingo Association for their generosity which has enabled us to have the school’s first minibus. This will provide our pupils with greater opportunities to experience new events which would not have been possible due to ever increasing transport costs. These opportunities will help to broaden pupils’ horizons and further enrich our curriculum. It will also enable us to take part in sporting fixtures. The school’s first trip aboard our new bus will be to a hockey tournament next week. We know this bus will continue to provide very valued resources for many years to come”.

Danielle Roche, Variety’s Corporate Partnerships Manager said:
“We are delighted to donate one of our Sunshine Coaches today to Carnforth School, and would like to thank the Bingo Association for their huge generosity in making this possible.
Every new Sunshine Coach on the road is a step towards our goal of improving the lives of disadvantaged and disabled children across the UK. These coaches enable children and young people to get the most out of school life by accessing recreational facilities outside of the school environment that they would otherwise not have the opportunity to.
The support of The Bingo Association’s members and customers has directly funded the donation of 28 Sunshine Coaches in the past four years, making a real and tangible difference to thousands of disadvantaged and disabled children around the UK.”

Miles Baron, Chief Executive of The Bingo Association said:
“I would like to thank the members, like Majestic Bingo and Buzz Bingo who are present today, for the incredible support and generosity of their customers and staff. Customers from more than 340 bingo clubs across the UK have made this very worthy donation of a Sunshine Coach possible.
“We have now raised over £1.3 million for Variety in the past four years – a truly incredible amount – and it is brilliant to see that this has such a fantastic, direct impact on improving the lives of thousands of sick and disadvantaged children around the UK.”