Hemel Hempstead, 11 September 2025 – As Butlin’s celebrates a ‘Decade of Difference’ with Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity, its official charity partner since 2015, nearly 100 team members have taken on the brand’s biggest ever fundraising event, the Pier to Pier challenge.
Pier to Pier is an incredible 26.4-mile walk along the West Sussex coastline, with the group starting the challenge before sunrise at 5:45am to reach their starting point of Brighton’s iconic Palace Pier. Braving the wind and rain, the route passes Hove Beach, Worthing Pier and Littlehampton’s Harbour Park before the finish line at Bognor Regis’ Pier.
A staggering £24,000 has been raised by the whole team, the largest amount raised by a single fundraising event in Butlin’s history. Over 900 friends and family donated and supported the walkers, helping the group achieve this monumental milestone. The fantastic total adds to over £154,000 already raised in 2025 by Butlin’s for GOSH.
The team from Bognor Regis has played their part so far this year, getting stuck into a range of incredible fundraising activities for the charity. While three team members have bravely skydived from 12,000 feet, those who stayed on the ground have organised weekly quizzes for guests on family breaks, alongside team bingo nights and bake sales.
This amazing amount raised will go towards the £1 million fundraising target set for 2028, all in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital’s new world-leading Children’s Cancer Centre. The unique facility will help build the future of children’s cancer care and save more lives. It will bring together pioneering research, cutting-edge treatments and child-centred care under one roof and ensuring every child gets the best chance and childhood possible.
Matt Rake, Resort Director at Butlin’s Bognor Regis, said: “What this incredible team has achieved is truly amazing and we couldn’t be prouder. An incredible amount of hard work and effort has gone into training and fundraising from everyone during the months leading up to the event.
“Pier to Pier is our biggest ever fundraising event, and it is a fantastic way to celebrate an incredible 10 year partnership with GOSH charity. Our fundraising for this monumental milestone with GOSH doesn’t stop here, as we have loads of amazing activities lined up for the rest of 2025.”
GOSH Charity has been Butlin’s official charity partner since 2015, however the historic partnership started decades before. Butlin’s founder, Sir Billy Butlin, donated funds to purchase the UK’s first paediatric CT scanner at the hospital back in 1977.
To find out more about the charity relationship, please visit: www.butlins.com/about-us/charity-partnership