The Eco Scheme charity raffle raises thousands for Bristol Sport Charities

05 September 2024

The Eco Scheme hosted a raffle at the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta to raise vital funds for the Bristol Bears Community Foundation, Bristol City Robins Foundation, Bristol Flyers Community and Bristol Sport Foundation.

A total of £5,811.45 was raised for the foundations, which will go towards tackling inequality faced by children, young people and their communities in areas of deprivation in the city of Bristol through the power of sport.

A range of exciting prizes were up for grabs, including a Solar PV system or cash equivalent, tickets to Bears, City and Flyers games, and signed merchandise from the clubs.

Winner of the top prize Emma Rusden said: “We were given a leaflet to enter the raffle at the balloon fiesta. I entered when I got home, looked through the prizes and thought they looked very good as myself and my partner like the Bristol Bears. We were particularly interested in the signed Bristol Bears rugby ball and the tickets to watch a rugby game.

“When I found out I had won the solar panels or cash equivalent and the signed Bristol Bears rugby ball we were very excited and could not believe we had won. We specifically wanted to enter this raffle as it was for a very worthy cause with the foundations being so good for the local community.”

The Eco Scheme Managing Director Steve Thomas said: “The Bristol Sport Group foundations make a massive difference in our communities. It was a simple idea to hold a charity raffle and giving away eco products along with amazing sports prizes from the three foundations and the response from the public was fantastic, helping us raise more than five thousand pounds.

“We also had special visits Bristol Bears and Bristol City Women’s players so thank you to the clubs for their support and the three foundations for pulling together and making it a special event.”

Bristol Sport Foundation CEO Sarah Mortiboys, speaking on behalf of all the foundations, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Steve and The Eco Scheme for their generous support. Their commitment to raising funds for our foundations will help us continue to tackle inequality across Bristol and build a brighter future for our community through the power of sport. This collaboration exemplifies the spirit of community and sustainability that we strive for, and we look forward to seeing the positive impact the funds will have.”

The Eco Scheme has access to a number of funding options to assist domestic and commercial property owners with becoming Carbon Neutral. This year alone they have totalled a carbon reduction in homes across the UK of over 520,000,000 tonnes and are operating completely carbon neutral – a mission in line with that of the Bristol Sport Group through Project Whitebeam.

Project Whitebeam is a joint effort across the Sporting Group to recognise, measure and mitigate our impact on the environment. We have signed up to the UN Sport for Climate Action Framework with Race to Zero targets of halving our carbon footprint by 2030 and being net zero by 2040.