Another round of respite breaks for families in dire need

24 January 2012

Another round of respite breaks for families in dire need

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and its staff around the country provided all-expenses-paid holidays to more than 30 seriously disadvantaged families last year and are set to do it all again.

In 2010, IHG staff-initiated projects generated $26,400 for the Give a Family a Break scheme. Last year, despite three of the company’s hotels in Christchurch not participating due to the earthquakes, and a revised fundraising goal of $20,000, more than $25,000 was raised to provide holidays for families during this year.

The benefits of a holiday to families who are struggling with the arduous and exceedingly stressful job of keeping their heads above water should not be underestimated, Salvation Army spokesman Major Robbie Ross says.

For many families, the IHG-sponsored break was their first family holiday. One family noted that their holiday had included their first ever experience of going to the movies. Many parents said that their time together re-established family ties and gave them a rare pause to reprioritise their lives and plan for a future beyond the next batch of bills.

“These families have been working closely with Salvation Army social workers and budget advisers and they are people who are making tremendous efforts to improve their situations in the face of great adversity,” Major Ross says.

The Give a Family a Break concept had been run by The Salvation Army in the past but was discontinued because of insufficient funding.

The Intercontinental Hotel Group initiative, led by the company’s staff at its InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn hotels, stepped in to provide highly valued relief for these families, Major Ross says.

Staff raise money from local initiatives including barbecues, selling muffins and gingerbread, online auctions for accommodation packages, dinners where hotel chefs showcase their cuisine and setting up coin donation points at hotel receptions.

IHG’s Wellington-based Director of Sales and Marketing, Geoff Naumann, says IHG staff were deeply touched by the letters from families receiving the holiday packages and feel privileged to support the project.

The all-expenses paid holidays include transport, accommodation, food hampers and tickets to local attractions.

ENDS

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