Gala Coral Group’s highly successful partnership with Sue Ryder Care was celebrated at a House of Lords reception on Thursday evening (January 27) after it smashed its £1.5million target for the charity.

Sue Ryder Care, which provides expert and compassionate care to people living with conditions including Cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, Stroke and Huntington’s disease, was selected as Gala Coral Group’s chosen charity after taking 50 per cent of the votes in an employee ballot in early 2008.

Over the last two years the Group has pulled together to deliver some truly record-breaking fundraising activities including the Highest Game of Bingo ever played – where a team of 25 Gala Coral Group employees accompanied by a Sue Ryder Care employee trekked to Everest Base Camp to play bingo, raising over £110,000. They even got Gala Coral Group’s directors to go ‘Back to the Floor’ in 2009 and 2010 to host a night at Gala Bingo Woking to raise money for the charity.

Other fundraising initiatives over the last two years that have enabled Sue Ryder Care to continue to liberate lives in its 14 care centres and community-based services across the UK, include Barack Obama’s step-mother Kezia helping the cause during the President’s Inauguration by having a dedicated game on galabingo.com, which raised £20,000.

The fundraising target was initially set at £1million to be reached by the end of 2009. However, due to the fantastic support demonstrated by employees, the Group smashed the target and increased it to £1.5million by December 2010. Each area of the business was set individual targets to hit including galabingo.com who, in addition to ‘Mrs Obama’s Bingo’ set bespoke Sue Ryder Care games where a percentage of the proceeds went to the charity, raising over £75,000.

A weekly fundraising table was also set up within the Group to create friendly rivalry and to guide each club and team’s performance to ensure the target was met.

Gala Bingo Coventry Walsgrave become the highest ever fundraising club in the Group’s history after raising £50k thanks to general manager Gary Colledge and his team’s determination. They organised and carried out numerous activities including bungee jumps, skydives, mammoth cycle rides as well as completing the 3 Peaks Challenge in July 2010.

Dr Colin Morgan, Head of Corporate Responsibility & Internal Communications at Gala Coral Group said: “Raising £1.5m during a recession is a performance in itself. We have never raised so much before for one charity and it is a testament to everyone in the business who got behind such a worthwhile cause. It has been fantastic to work so closely with Sue Ryder Care who do some truly amazing things for those who need extra care and we know they appreciate every single penny.”

Paul Woodward, Chief Executive at Sue Ryder, said: “We have been so impressed with Gala Coral’s continued commitment and enthusiasm in raising vital funds for Sue Ryder over the past two years. £1.5million is a fantastic achievement and will go a long way to helping us grow and develop our services to reach more people that need end of life and long-term health and social care.

He continued: “In these uncertain economic times all voluntary income is much needed in order to help us continue to provide care that makes a real difference to people’s lives. On behalf of Sue Ryder, my sincere thanks go out to everybody at the Gala Coral Group.”

Gala Bingo and Mecca Bingo will be going head to head later this month in a 5-aside football match to raise vital funds for their respective charities – Sue Ryder Care and Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Despite the friendly rivalry between the leading bingo operators, the two Plymouth-based Gala Bingo clubs and Mecca Devonport will be working together on Monday, August 30 to ensure as much money as possible is raised for charity.

As well as the football which kicks-off at 1pm, they will also be holding a fete including raffles and book stalls at the Plymouth Stonehouse Recreation Ground, which they hope will be supported not only by their bingo regulars but also by other members of the wider community.

All the money raised will be split equally between the two charities. Half will go towards Gala Bingo’s group charity, Sue Ryder Care, which provides end of life and long-term care to people living with conditions including cancer, Huntingdon’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and patients recovering from strokes and will contribute towards Gala Coral Group’s pledge to raise a total of £1.5million for the charity by the end of 2010.

The other half will go to Marie Cure Cancer Care as part of its 2010 partnership with Mecca Bingo. Marie Curie Cancer Care is one of the UK’s largest charities. Employing more than 2,700 nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals, it expects to provide care to around 29,000 terminally ill patients in the community and in its hospices this year and is the largest provider of hospice beds outside the NHS. Mecca Bingo is aiming to raise enough money to fund 10,000 hours of home nursing care.

Organiser and manager of Gala Bingo Derry Cross, David Gregory-Clements, said: “It’s really gaining some momentum now and we’re all looking forward to the day. This five-a-side tournament not only allows us to generate a bit of friendly rivalry between the local bingo clubs but also to do something really positive for both of our charities. We are all hoping the day will be well supported. May the best team win!”

Mecca Devonport General Manager, Nigel Green, commented: “The team has been training hard and we are all really pleased to be taking on a rival local bingo club to raise money for both charities! It should certainly be a lot of fun on the day and we hope our customers and team members will come along to show their support and help us raise a lot of money.”

All money raised from the match at Plough Lane, Wallington, which will see 40 employees fiercely compete for the title, will go directly to help Sue Ryder Care continue to provide four million hours of compassionate care to people living with long-term complex conditions such as Cancer, Stroke, Brain Injury, Multiple Sclerosis, Dementia, Huntington’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease and Motor Neurone Disease.

Everyone is welcome to bring a picnic, watch the cricket and join in the fun. There will also be an opportunity to take part in a grand draw to win some fantastic prizes including a Surrey County Cricket Club bat signed by former England captain Alec Stewart.

Gala Bingo, which is part of Gala Coral Group, selected Sue Ryder Care as its group charity in July 2008 after an employee vote showed overwhelming support for the charity. Through a number of fundraising activities the group, has pledged to raise £1.5m by the end of 2010.

Graham Freemantle, General Manager at Gala Bingo in Woking, said: “We’re really looking forward to the day as it’s a great way to get employees from across the Group together while raising money for such a good cause. While it will be great fun, no doubt there will be a lot of friendly rivalry to win the title.”

Gabriela Potworowska, Area Fundraising Manager for Sue Ryder Care, said: “A charity cricket match is a fantastic way to get everyone involved to make the most of our summer and raise money for Sue Ryder Care. The organisation that has gone into the day will ensure that everyone will have a great time. We can not thank Gala Bingo in Woking enough for their ongoing generous support.”

Gala Coral Group raised even more money for charity partner Sue Ryder Care last weekend after 29 employees completed the notoriously tough 3 Peaks Challenge.

After smashing its initial target to raise £1m for the charity in 2009, Gala Coral Group pledged to raise a further £500k for the charity, which provides end of life and long-term care to people living with conditions including cancer, multiple sclerosis, stroke and Huntingdon’s disease.

The 3 Peaks Challenge, which saw the group climb the highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales within 24 hours, raised £30K alone, taking the company to £1.2m towards its £1.5m target.

Paul Woodward, chief executive Sue Ryder Care, said: “On behalf of Sue Ryder Care, I can’t thank everybody at Gala Coral enough for their truly fantastic support. The money Gala Coral employees continue to raise enables us not only to maintain provision of care via our health and social services nationwide but to develop and grow so that we can reach out to more people.”

He added: “We know that many people prefer to be cared for in their own homes. As such, with the support of money raised from Gala Coral we will continue to develop community based services that support people to live well in their own homes for as long as possible – and when the time comes, die with dignity, free of pain and in their preferred place of choice.”

Dr Colin Morgan, head of corporate responsibility for Gala Coral Group, said: “We are very proud of our staff and customer’s ongoing commitment and enthusiasm in support of Sue Ryder Care. This climb was not an easy one, it was more of an endurance test than a trek with mist and rain and night time walking!”

Gala Coral Group selected Sue Ryder Care as its nominated charity following an employee vote in May 2008. Other fundraising activities have seen 24 employees, trek 75 miles and ascending 2,700 metres to Everest Base Camp and a London to Cambridge bike ride.

No mountain was high enough for the staff at Gala Coral in 2009, as they have smashed their 2009 target of raising £1m for the company’s nominated charity partner, Sue Ryder Care.

Not satisfied with conquering Everest and holding the world’s highest ever game of bingo, Gala Coral staff have now set themselves the challenge of raising an additional £500,000 in 2010; with the aim of bringing total fundraising efforts for Sue Ryder Care to £1.5m.

Paul Woodward, Chief Executive of healthcare charity, Sue Ryder Care, said: “On behalf of Sue Ryder Care, I’d like to extend my sincere thanks to everyone at Gala Coral for their continued support.

“All money raised through fundraising efforts and corporate partnerships is vital funds that help us provide end of life and long term care for more people living with conditions including; Cancer, Stroke, Dementia, Multiple Sclerosis and Huntington’s Disease.”

Following an employee vote in May 2008, in which Sue Ryder Care was nominated as the group charity until the end of 2010, the generosity of Gala Coral staff and customers has known no bounds. In addition to holding collections and fundraising parties, Gala Coral employees have dressed up as dogs to race around Brighton and Hove Greyhound Stadium and climbed to Everest Base Camp to set the record for the worlds highest ever game of bingo.

The trek to Everest Base Camp saw 25 dedicated bingo buffs climb an astonishing 17,500ft, dabber in hand, to set the record for the World’s Highest Game of Bingo. Despite the constant risk of dehydration, altitude sickness, deep vein thrombosis and frostbite, they overcame all that nature could throw at them to land the biggest bingo jackpot of all time; calling “BINGO” on top of the world! Following the completion of the trek and the setting of a new record, the team successfully smashed their goal of raising £100,000 for Sue Ryder Care.

Dominic Harrison, Chief Executive of Gala Coral said: “The fundraising work carried out by Gala Coral staff and customers to date has been truly inspirational, from the many local events right through to the trek to Everest Base Camp Trek. Their continued enthusiasm in raising funds for such an important cause is much appreciated and highly valued. As a result of Gala Coral fundraising efforts, Sue Ryder Care remains in a strong position to continue their vital work – at a challenging time for them and the wider charity sector”.

A number of Gala Coral Group’s directors raised nearly £2k for Sue Ryder Care by hosting last night’s (2 December) evening bingo session at Gala Bingo’s Woking club in Surrey.

The session, which was open to the public, saw 10 of the company’s directors go ‘back to the floor’ with a couple calling two dedicated charity games of bingo and the others serving food and drinks to customers in aid of Gala Coral’s group charity Sue Ryder Care.

Sue Ryder Care provides expert and compassionate care to people living with conditions including Cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, Stroke and Huntington’s Disease. Through a number of ongoing initiatives Gala Coral is aiming to raise £1million by 2010 to help the charity continue to provide care that liberates lives in 14 care centres and community-based services across the UK.

“It was a fantastic evening,” said Damian Cope, Gala Coral Group’s Chief Information Officer who called one of the dedicated charity games. “It was a great way to learn even more about our business directly from our customers and staff, while raising a fantastic amount for our group charity, Sue Ryder Care. We all really enjoyed the experience and want to thank everyone for their generosity and for making the evening such a great success.”

The evening culminated in an auction which saw ferocious bidding on some great donations from companies such as SCC and BT and included a Samsung Netbook, 19″ LCD Samsung plasma TV, a Wii Fit, a smoothie maker, a dolls house, BT portable digital telephones, BT Baby Monitor and a classic train set.

Next month, 24 dedicated bingo enthusiasts will tackle Everest, dabber in hand, in an attempt to smash the record for the World’s Highest Game of Bingo. The intrepid trekkers will face dehydration, altitude sickness and deep vein thrombosis as they take part in a bingo pilgrimage to Everest’s Base Camp – not to mention frostbitten fingers and toes.

The plucky trekkers – made up of Gala Coral employees from all over the country – have been preparing for the toughest bingo game of their life by engaging in gruelling training sessions closer to home to ensure they are well prepared for the rigours of playing bingo at 17,500 ft.

The extraordinary challenge is part of a fundraising effort for Gala Coral’s nominated charity, Sue Ryder Care. The team hope by scaling the world’s toughest mountain and setting a new world record for playing bingo at altitude they can smash their goal of raising £100,000 for the charity. Staff from across Gala Coral have so far raised an incredible £750,000 for Sue Ryder Care and are well on their way to reaching their target of £1million by the end of 2009.

As well as long distance running and hill walking, Gala Coral team members have been familiarising themselves with high attitude bingo games by practising atop landmarks in their home towns – from the Blackpool Tower (540 ft) to the Gherkin in London (590 ft) and the Beetham Tower in Birmingham (520 ft).

And to guard against the approximate 30% drop in mental agility caused by being at high altitudes, the team have also been sharpening their number dabbing skills by playing double-quick games at their local Gala Bingo clubs.

The brave explorers won’t just be playing any old bingo game however – the operator will be trialling a new improved version of Gala Bingo’s wildly popular High 5 game, which promises customers a fast and furious bingo experience like no other.

Dominic Harrison, CEO of Gala Coral Group said: “It seemed appropriate to break a world record by playing Gala Bingo’s High 5 game, the UK’s highest daily bingo jackpot, at the highest point ever recorded in history. If 24 half frozen bingo professionals can have a great time playing it at 17,500 ft, I’m confident it will be a rip roaring success here in the UK! I am incredibly proud of every single person who has volunteered to undertake this challenge of a lifetime, and even prouder that we’ll be raising money for the excellent work of our nominated charity, Sue Ryder Care, whilst we’re at it. Good luck to you all!”

The Everest trek is just one of a number of ongoing initiatives by the Gala Coral Group in a bid to raise GBP1million by 2010 for Sue Ryder Care, which provides expert and compassionate care to people living with conditions including cancer, multiple sclerosis, stroke and Huntington’s Disease.

It is hoped the extreme challenge, which will see a 24-strong team of employees, trek 75 miles and ascending 2,700 metres up the world’s highest mountain, will raise £100k for Gala Coral’s group-wide charity Sue Ryder Care.

The Everest trek is just one of a number of ongoing initiatives by Gala Coral Group, who aim to raise £1million by 2010 for the charity, which provides expert and compassionate care to people living with conditions including cancer, multiple sclerosis, stroke and Huntington’s Disease.

Starting on 27 August for eight weeks, 10 per cent of ticket sales from the new Everest link online bingo  game, which takes place on a Thursday evening at 19:25hrs, will go towards the Everest fundraising total.

Paul Woodward, Chief Executive at Sue Ryder Care, said: “We’re delighted that a group of employees have volunteered to trek to Everest Base Camp to help raise vital funds for Sue Ryder Care. We hope as many people as possible support their fundraising effort through the dedicated bingo game.  By supporting Sue Ryder Care, people across the country help us make a real difference to the lives of thousands of people we care for each year.”

The adventurous trek, which can cause mountain altitude sickness, DVTs and dehydration, will commence at Lukla on October 16 and finish at Everest Base Camp on November 3.

Ian Burke, Rank Group Chief Executive and qualified Spinning instructor, took part in the Cape Argus Pick ‘n Pay Cycle Tour, a 109km race around the Cape of Good Hope peninsula, South Africa, to help raise money for a number of good causes, including Mecca Bingo’s charity of the year, children’s mobility charity Whizz-Kidz.

Strong winds of over 100km/h put a lot of people off starting the race but Ian competed in what organisers called “the most difficult event in 20 years” and finished the race in just 5 hours 19 minutes and 29 seconds – beating movie star Matt Damon’s time by almost 90 minutes!

Ian says: “The scenery was stunning, absolutely breathtaking; it was five and a half hours of unadulterated fun. The temperature was a moderate 29 degrees and the windy conditions certainly added to the challenge – 9,000 entrants didn’t even start the race!

“I’d like to thank everyone for their generous support. My total funds raised currently stands at £21,000 and I am confident more will flow in shortly.”

Ian plans to donate £16,000 of the total raised to Whizz-Kidz, with remaining funds being split between St John’s Hospice in London and the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.

Ian concludes: “I’m happy to have completed this race and to be able to make such a substantial donation to Whizz-Kidz, following the incredible fundraising efforts of Mecca colleagues in the last year. In 2008, our bingo clubs across the country raised over £286,000 for the charity and by the end of 2009 we’re aiming to reach £500,000. The money raised by each club is spent locally – we’ve already provided 5 children with mobility equipment and many more cases are currently being assessed.”

Ruth Owen, Chief Executive of Whizz-Kidz, added: “I’d like to congratulate Ian for jumping into the saddle and raising such an amazing amount. We are absolutely thrilled with the enthusiasm and inventiveness of all Mecca team and club members in 2008, in raising over a quarter of a million pounds to support young wheelchair-users’ independence.

The funds have been raised over the past three months after 10 per cent of all ‘Pink Ribbon’ charity tickets sold was donated to charity. Every new player who signed up and played at least £20 of bingo in the next 30 days also saw £10 donated to Breast Cancer Care.

William Hill Bingo spokewoman Lili Huang said: “Many thanks to our bingo players who have participated in the ‘Pink Ribbon’ campaign in the last three months, enabling us to raise this terrific amount to help people affected by breast cancer.”

Kezia, 67, of Bracknell, Berks, explained: “Barack said to me ‘Sorry it’s so cold.

‘I want you to come back to Washington and stay with me and my family in the White House in the summer when it is warmer’.

“I am surprised and so excited to think I will be staying in the White House. It’s too good to be true!”

In another amazing moment between them, and minutes before his inauguration, Barack stopped and embraced his stepmother and said: “Hi Mom, I’m happy you have been able to come.”

Kezia said: “I wished him luck and told him he was in my prayers.”

“I am amazed Barack found time for me on his big day. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

“I felt so proud, and his father would have been so proud, too.”

“Barack even said to me ‘That is a fantastic dress you are wearing’.”

Keen bingo fan Kezia has helped raise £20,000 for the Sue Ryder Care charity through her Gala Bingo game ‘Mrs Obama’s Bingo’ – which she launched to celebrate Barack’s success.

Gala Bingo Head of Marketing Clive Cottrell said: “After only an hour’s play a day for 10 days, ‘Mrs Obama’s Bingo’ raised getting on for £10,000.

“We are delighted to match that amount – which means £20,000 will go to our group-wide charity Sue Ryder Care.”

“Mrs Obama’s Bingo game was just one of the ongoing activities being undertaken by Gala Coral Group to meet our target of raising £1million by 2010 for Sue Ryder Care.”

Sue Ryder Care Chief Executive Paul Woodward said: “We’re thrilled that Gala Bingo recent initiative has raised such a fantastic amount of money for us.”

“On behalf of the charity, I’d like to extend a sincere thanks to everybody involved, and to Gala Bingo for their ongoing support.”

“All monies raised will go directly to helping us continue to deliver expert and compassionate care to people living with conditions including cancer, strokes, Multiple Sclerosis and Acquired Brain Injury.”

All full house prizes on games played between 7 and 8pm on the 17th, 24th and 31st of October will be matched and subsequently donated to this worth cause. Players in these games will also be entered into a prize draw to win the following:

1st Prize: Pink HP Laptop

2nd Prize: Pink Nintendo DS Lite

3rd Prize: Pink GHD Straighteners

Until the 24th October, Ladbrokes are offering free bingo twice a day, from 11am-noon and from 7pm-8pm. There will be a league table showing how many free games roomies have won, and the lucky person at the top of the leader board will win £400 worth of bingo at the end of the month. That’s enough for a whole month’s bingo! Plus the top 30 will each receive £50 worth of bingo credit.

To find out more about the Wear it Pink campaign click HERE

Laws signed by the governor on 30 September ban electronic bingo machines in California and charities warned the changes will make it impossible for charities to make money from their bingo operations.

Marty Manges, who runs the bingo operations for Sacramento’s Casa Roble High School’s sports and extracurricular programs, told the Sacramento Bee:  “‘The legislature and the governor’s office pretty much killed charity bingo in the state of California. I just don’t see any way we can compete without the machines.”

Doug Bergman, president and chief executive officer of United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Sacramento told the newspaper: ”It’s the end of the line for us. The paper (bingo) doesn’t pencil out.”

The law bans electronic machines but allows Catholic charities to run “remote caller” bingo games, which means there is one central callers servicing multiple venues where bingo is played. Catholic charities had lobbied for the change to allow them to compete with Indian gaming reservations, who have increasinly been taking their customer base.

Senate Bill 1369 was put together in the final days of the California legislative session, leaving smaller charities little time to lobby against it. In recent years, electronic bingo has become the main revenue generator for smaller charities as paper bingo has lots popularity.