The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on charities across the country, making it very difficult for them to meet their objectives, with 44% saying they have had to draw on reserves. (Survey from Pro Bono Economics / Civil Society Media.)

Prior to lockdown, Lake District Hotels Ltd, a family run hotel group had been busy hosting a variety of charity events across their six hotels, to raise money for their charity of the year, Keswick Scouts. Each year the hotel group seek help from the general public to nominate a local charity to reap the benefits from their fundraising efforts.

From September 2019, an impressive total of £9,000 was raised from a number of events, such as fun pub quizzes, employee’s running half marathons and taking part in the fun Christmas jumper day, as well as the group’s annual Kitchen Rivals charity banquet, which took place in November at the Lodore Falls Hotel & Spa. Another favourite in the group’s pubs were the spicy ‘Hot Nuts’ which went down well with a local pint of ale.

An official cheque handover took place recently between Dani Hope, Lake District Hotels Marketing Director and Jonny Winter, Assistant Scout Leader & Group Watersports Co-ordinator after a long five-month delay. The funding is to help with the renovation of Ashness Hut, which is used as part of a varied programme of activities by 93 local young scouts.

Dani commented, “It has been a great pleasure to fundraise for a charity who do so much for our local community. The volunteers who lead children and young adults into the great outdoors to learn life skills is so important and builds character that will be useful to them later on in life. We hope that the money raised will help kickstart the renovations of Ashness Hut which needs a bit of love and care after many years of use.”

Jonny commented, “Our Ashness Hut has been a base for adventures for decades but urgently needs investment for Keswick Scouts to continue providing outdoor experiences for the local community. It’s been fantastic to have the support of a local business such as Lake District Hotels, especially through the Coronavirus pandemic, and the money raised will go a long way towards this project.”