A Variety Sunshine Coach was presented by The Bingo Association’s Chief Executive Miles Baron, to pupils at Beaufort School in Birmingham. The Sunshine Coach is the 29th to be donated by The Bingo Association in the past four years. Also in attendance at the presentation were Dave Robson, Operations Director at BJ’s Bingo, Dave Cooksley, General Manager and Debbie Allan, Assistant Manager both from the local BJ’s Bingo club in Kitts Green and General Manager Andrew Tattershall from BJ’s Bingo, Leigh.
Beaufort School is a community day special school for 84 primary aged children with severe and complex learning difficulties. The school is committed to ensuring the best possible education for their pupils and maintaining strong community links.
The Sunshine Coach will provide enriching opportunities for the pupils to transfer their learning from the classroom to a real-life context. Extracurricular visits throughout the school year support children’s thematic learning in school and can include historical buildings and places, sports activities, sensory experiences, outdoor pursuits, theme parks, the city centre and gardens.
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 educational and recreational days out allowing children to explore places they would otherwise never have visited.
Steve Robinson, Head of School, Beaufort School said:
“Beaufort School were delighted to be approached by BJ’s Bingo via The Bingo Association to fund a brand-new minibus. This bus will be used to provide our children with real, immersive opportunities to learn, which support their work back in school. We can’t wait to train new drivers and use the bus for trips as part of our ‘Out and About’ topic in the spring term!”
Charlotte Walker, Regional Fundraising Manager at Variety said:
“We are delighted to donate one of our Sunshine Coaches today to Beaufort 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 granting access to recreational facilities outside of the school environment that they would otherwise not have the opportunity for.”
“The support of The Bingo Association’s members and customers has directly funded the donation of 29 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 BJ’s Bingo who are present today, for the incredible support and generosity of their customers and staff. Customers from bingo clubs across the UK such as BJ’s Bingo have made this very worthy donation of a Sunshine Coach possible.”
“We have now raised £1.6 million for Variety in the past five years – a truly incredible amount – and it is brilliant to see that this has a fantastic, direct impact on improving the lives of thousands of sick and disadvantaged children around the UK.”
