Community - Community relations in the UK

Working with the Heathrow community

Our Community Relations team supports the Heathrow area in a number of ways:

• we work with the boroughs around Heathrow airport, especially focussing on education and youth development
• we recycle our onboard blankets to help community groups and animal welfare centres in the Heathrow area
• we've also given blankets to relief efforts following disasters around the world

The British Airways Community Learning Centre

British Airways Charity Fundraisers

Our charity fundraising evenings which take place in the Heathrow area have raised £321,000 since 2005 for worthy causes.

Wexham Park Hospital near Heathrow benefited from one of our fundraising evenings. It has used the funds we've provided to create an activity room for teenage cancer patients.

We also support many local fundraisers by giving them flight tickets which can be raffled for good causes.

Working with the Gatwick community

British Airways has supported a range of community education programmes in and around the Gatwick airport area for a number of years.

Lancing House

One example of a beneficiary is Lancing House, a local care centre in Crawley which offers residential opportunities for children with severe disabilities. British Airways is proud to have provided funding for a sensory room for the children at the centre.

Across the Ages fun day

Each summer British Airways hosts "Across the Ages", a family fun day held at Gatwick. It is an opportunity for people of all ages from the Gatwick and Crawley community to come together.

Working with the Manchester community

We've lent support to a number of projects in and around the Manchester area in recent years:

• sponsored tickets for the The Cheshire Fire Brigade Cadets to go to Ghana to help build a school and dig the foundations for a water bore hole. Our staff in Ghana joined the cadets to help with the building
• sponsored the British Big Issue football team's travel to Cape Town so that they could compete in the Homeless World Cup
• donated £10,375 to the Clapperboard Youth Project, a programme which encourages young people to produce short films about social issues like bullying, racism and drugs
• given £2,617 to the Soccer Fix Programme in Merseyside, a scheme which encourages young people to maintain a healthy lifestyle through sports
• given flight tickets to a number of charities and causes to be used as prizes at fundraising events

Working with the Newcastle community

In Newcastle, we've set up something called the Community Action Group which meets every month to review applications for British Airways funding and support.

As in other areas of the UK, we have:

• raised money for local and national charities
• supported good causes with funding
• given away flight tickets as prizes
• helped raise awareness of Fair Trade Products

Community Action Group donations

In 2006-7 the Community Action Group made donations to 23 local charities including hospices, cancer charities, specialist baby units and special needs groups.

Ties with local universities

Our Information Management team also has a strong relationship with local universities. We've been involved in creating a special course at Northumbria University which helps students with job applications and interview practice.

Working with the Scottish community

We have supported the following charities in Scotland in the past year with tickets for their fundraisers:

• Scottish Motor Neurone Disease
• Action Medical Research Still birth unit
• Strathclyde Fire and Rescue
• Children's Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS)
• Maggies Centre
• Bickets Children with Leukemia