Two-person delivery specialist Panther Logistics has adopted children’s charity Over The Wall as its first corporate charity.
As part of the relationship the 500 employees at every one of the company’s nine depots across the UK will have the opportunity to support the charity which raises just over £2 million a year to provide free activity camps for seriously ill or disabled children and their families.
The wide array of volunteering opportunities includes fundraising, helping to run the activity camps, and promoting the charity at dedicated events such as this year’s RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival.
Every penny raised by employees will be matched by Panther.
Launched in the UK in 1999, Over The Wall was co-founded by Hollywood legend Paul Newman. It is part of an international SeriousFun Children’s Network, also founded by the actor.
The charity organises a series of children’s five-day activity camps, which tour the UK nationally during the Easter and summer holidays, as well as smaller weekend events.
Over The Wall’s residential camps are held at several locations throughout the UK. All of the sites are located on large properties in the countryside with universally-accessible facilities for indoor and outdoor activities—and stunning views!
Since the event of Covid-19 the charity has also introduced a digital service, Camp in the Cloud, providing online activities for children who are unable to make it to live camps either because of autoimmune diseases or shielding through Covid.
Camps last between two and five days consisting of two activities every morning, two every afternoon.
Activities range from abseiling, zip-lining and canoeing to arts, crafts, drama and designing inventions, and are followed by a cinema visit or similar recreation in the evenings.
A highlight on the charity’s calendar is the prestigious gala ball which takes place in London in December and has previously counted Hollywood stars Johnny Depp, Meryl Streep and Keira Knightley among its guests.
Christopher Pitts is the Corporate Partnerships Manager at Over The Wall.
He said:
“We are delighted to have Panther Logistics as our corporate partner.
“Although we have 35 core staff, we have 450 volunteers whose efforts are crucial in helping us to deliver our activities every year. Our camps in particular are very intense with a lot of time invested – five days, usually from 6am to 11pm, looking after children the majority of that time. From the outset Panther agreed to support one of our camps in Scotland, while other volunteers from the company will attend various events with us, helping to promote our work.”
“Over The Wall is excited to be a part of Panther’s journey.
“When we met there was a real connection from the start and we look forward to Panther’s support throughout the partnership.”