Our charity partner
Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH Charity) is as much part of the Whitbread family as our brands. We have proudly supported GOSH since 2012 and have raised £26.4 million in that time.
Our pride in supporting GOSH Charity shines through in the fantastic fundraising efforts made by our teams, guests and suppliers each year. From marathons to ‘sleep-a-thons’, there is no limit to the lengths our teams go to raise vital funds. Guests can also donate online when booking a stay or in our restaurants when paying their bill. Our suppliers attend events throughout the year in support of GOSH Charity and many have found their own unique ways of supporting the hospital further. The charity mascot teddy, Bernard Bear, has found thousands of loving homes across the UK with the profit from each sale donated.
Now, we’re helping GOSH Charity take on a new fundraising challenge by raising £20 million for its next life-changing cause – building the new Children’s Cancer Centre at GOSH.
Our impact
Premier Inn Clinical Building
In 2012, Whitbread pledged to raise £7.5 million towards a brand-new medical facility at the hospital. The Premier Inn Clinical building opened its doors in 2018, allowing hundreds of patients to be treated in brand new facilities including new in-patient wards, operating theatres and a day care unit.
The Sight and Sound Centre, supported by Premier Inn
With the help of a £10 million pledge from Premier Inn, GOSH Charity contributed £25 million towards the opening of this unique new centre, which welcomed its first patients in 2021. This incredible building is the UK’s first dedicated medical facility for children with sight and hearing loss and will help over 8,000 children a year.
Read more about the ways we fundraise below
Louise Casey raises £1,000
Louise Casey, a team member at Warrington Premier Inn took to the hotel corridors to raise an incredible £1,000 during the March 2020 UK national lockdown by running an indoor marathon around her hotel.
Our teams did not stop for the pandemic, with hotels and restaurants closed they continued to raise a staggering £100k during the initial UK lockdown.
Race for the Kids
In 2019, we rallied the team members across our business to take part in the RBC Race for the Kids for Great Ormond Street.
Over 600 team members took part, running, walking, crawling or scooting 5k around London. In 2020, we took it virtual joining forces to run the race from wherever our teams were based and we raised a huge £30,000.
Your Everest, powered by Wellbeing
‘Your Everest’, powered by Wellbeing launched in 2019. Encouraging our team members to take on their own personal ‘Everest’ and raise money for GOSH whilst boosting their physical or mental wellbeing. Premier Inn Hotel Manager, Amy Stanton took on the challenge of climbing Scarfell Pike with her team.
“On arrival at Scarfell Pike I was in complete awe of how big this mountain really was. I started to climb with the whole group and very quickly realised this was going to take a lot of motivation and determination. I was doing it to prove to myself that I can achieve this massive challenge and also to keep my promise to the families and children of Great Ormond Street Hospital to complete this climb and raise money for an amazing cause. This was the hardest thing I have ever done physically and emotionally but doesn’t compare to what the families and children go through at GOSH.”
Our Guests fundraising
Fundraising for GOSH Charity is not limited to our incredible team.
Our guests continue to support the partnership throughout their stay with us at Premier Inn, or during their time at our restaurants.
We are proud to have partnered with the micro donation charity, Pennies. Utilising this easy and affordable form of giving, guests have donated an incredible £400,000 over the past two years when adding a small donation to their bill in our restaurants.
On average, a staggering £1 million is also donated by guests each year when booking a stay at one of our hotels online.
Our supplier fundraising
From golf days to clay pigeon shoots and conference dinners, our suppliers join us in raising much needed funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital each year.
Many find their own unique ways to fundraise or support the hospital at other points throughout the year too. In 2019 Whitbread’s London Acquisition and Construction team, alongside a number of suppliers tackled their own Three Peaks Challenge, raising an impressive £67,000.
