PRESS RELEASERef: f9
April7,2016
British Airways i360launches new charity partnership by selling graffiti hoardings
British Airways i360 today announces a partnership with local charity the Trust for Developing Communities (TDC).
The charity provides advice, support and training fordisadvantaged communitiesin Brighton and Hove, empowering them to aim high and work together toeffectpositive change.
British Airways i360 will support TDC’s child and youth projects by raising awareness and funds. It launches the partnership by auctioning the graffiti hoardings that stood between the construction site and the beach and were painted last summer by artists including Aroe, Gary, Jiro, AVK, Morf, Warg, Vodka, Rebus and Owed.
British Airways i360 chief executive Eleanor Harris said: “We are building part of the city’s future and it has always been part of our vision to inspire the next generation to aim higher and go further. This is why we are proud to be partnering with local charity TDC to support their projects for children and young people in the city.”
“We have already committed to giving every child who attends a state school in Brighton and Hove one free visit to British Airways i360 during their school career. We hope our partnership with TDC can help make a positive difference for young people in Brighton and Hove.”
In 2014/2015, TDC worked directly with almost 600 children and young people in Brighton and Hove. It arranged 6,800 hours per week of volunteering, delivered training programmes and ran more than 400 meetings, events and projects. TDC workers alsohelpedcommunity groups raise £250,000 of funding and grants.
Popular TDC projects include the annual Wild Park Youth Festival (organised with Brighton and Hove Youth Collective), the BevenTEENbulletin, which is written and edited by children, and the Bevendean Summer Programme, organised and funded by teenagers from the Bevendean Activities Group.
TDC chief executive Linda Saltwell said:“From the top of British Airways i360 we will be able to see Brighton and Hove, and the projects we work on, spread before us.
“Brighton and Hove has some very affluent areas, but it also has some of the most deprived wards in the country. Some 46% of the city’s children live in the bottom 20% of England’s wards and in some areas child poverty is more than 50%.
“Research tells us that poor childrencan become poor adults, and we know there are huge health divides in the city that correlate to the mapping of child poverty.”
TDC chair of trustees Paul Bramwell said: “Our trustees and staff are thrilled to be chosen as the charity partner for British Airways i360. This partnership will build on mutual aims around innovating and inspiring young people.”
TDC trustee and MD of Propellernet Nikki Gatenby said: “This partnership with British Airways i360 could help us extend our essential work across the city. For example, putting more youth workers on the streets where they can reach young people on their own turf.”
Twelvepieces of graffiti are being auctioned on eBay with a starting price of £50 per item. The artworks range in size from two to eight panels; each panel measuring 8ft x 4ft. The auction will go live on Friday 8th April.
British Airways i360 is conceived and designed by Marks Barfield Architects, creators of the London Eye.
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British Airways i360 and TDC 1.jpg British Airways chief executive Eleanor Harris with TDC chief executive Linda Saltwell and children from the TDC projects (names and ages available if required).
British Airways i360 and TDC 2.jpg British Airways chief executive Eleanor Harris with TDC chief executive Linda Saltwell and children from the TDC projects (names and ages available if required).
Graffiti by Aroe.jpg
Graffiti by Gary.jpg
Graffiti by Morf.jpg
These are examples of the graffiti boards painted by local artists that British Airways i360is auctioning to raise money for TDC.
About British Airways i360
At a current height of 162m, and with an observation pod rising to 138m, British Airways i360 will be the world’s tallest moving observation tower and the world’s first vertical cable car, offering a new perspective on the fun-loving seaside city of Brighton. Sited at the root end of the historic West Pier on Brighton’s seafront, British Airways i360 has a slender, elegant design, with a glass pod allowing 200 visitors at a time to enjoy the surrounding view as it slowly unfolds. The visitor centre will incorporate a 400-seat restaurant, a gift shop, children’s play zone, exhibition space, and conference and event facilities. Two rebuilt West Pier toll booths will grace the entrance to British Airways i360 and house a tea room and the ticket office. British Airways i360 holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s most slender tower.
British Airways i360 is conceived and designed by Marks Barfield Architects, creators of the London Eye.
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About British Airways
British Airways is one of the world’s leading global premium airlines and the UK’s largest international scheduled airline, carrying approximately 35 million passengers worldwide annually, on around 800 daily flights. The airline employs around 40,000 people, the vast majority of these at its sites throughout the UK, and has an annual turnover of £8.5 billion.
It employs 2,500 people in Sussex, several hundred of them in Brighton.