A team of staff from London City Airport descended upon East London’s Richard House Children’s Hospice to present a cheque for £35,000 on 5 December 2007.

Through a variety of fundraising efforts, in particular Fun Day 2007, London City Airport’s staff raised the funds in aid of London’s first hospice dedicated to life-limited children and young adults.

The cheque was presented to Viv Talbot, Community Fundraising Manager at Richard House, by Richard Gooding, Chief Executive of London City Airport. Presenting the cheque, Richard said “this cheque is a combination of everyone’s hard work and it is a privilege for us to offer the money to such a worthy cause.”

Viv Talbot said “we cannot thank Richard Gooding and all the staff at London City Airport enough for all the hard work and effort that they put into the many ways that they fundraise for us. Without the continuing support of people like Richard and his staff, we would not be able to continue helping the 160 children and young people in our care".

A large number of the airport’s employees are dedicated to helping Richard House including participating in the Hydro Active run, car boot sales, charity raffles and other innovative schemes. A new clothing recycling scheme was set up by Kelly Hunt in the operations department of the airport. The scheme invites employees to donate their unwanted clothes that in turn are sold to a local organisation. Through her efforts, Kelly raised £260.

The event on everyone’s lips is Fun Day, made possible thanks to the support of the local community who embark upon the airport grounds on a given Saturday every July. This year saw a record 15,000 visitors as the airport celebrated the biggest Fun Day in its eleven year history.

Preparations have already commenced for Fun Day 2008, taking place on Saturday 5 July. Richard House is once again the nominated beneficiary of all funds raised through the event. Fun Day 2008 promises to be more exciting than ever before. As London City Airport celebrates its 21st birthday, the airport staff are dedicated to bringing together the community with a host of new activities and attractions.