By Allison Watkinson
TLL Reporter
Playmates Toys and Wow! Stuff have taken on the role of Master Sponsors for The Light Fund’s English Channel Relay Fundraiser.
The Master Sponsor position refers to the groups that have taken on the biggest sponsorships available for this year’s Light Fund challenge.
“When we heard that the licensing industry was supplying two teams to do a relay swim across the Channel we thought two things: “Are they mad?” and “How can we help?” said Richard North, CEO of Wow! Stuff.
“The Light Fund helped the toy industry initiative ToyAid, that Joel Silverman and I set up during the height of the pandemic. This is Wow! Stuff’s thanks for that involvement and our commitment to be with the mad team of Light Fund swimmers every step – or stroke – of the way.”
Playmates Toys and Wow! Stuff have both pledged five-figure sums to support the two pilot boats that are responsible for transporting, supporting and protecting the swim teams during the relay.
All the participants in the race will be from the licensing industry, trying to be first to make it from Dover to the French coast – a 21-mile journey that could end up closer to 40 miles if you include tidal shifts.
The names of both Master Sponsors will appear on the two ships: Pilot Boat Optimist and Pilot Boat High Hopes.
“We jumped at the opportunity to give our backing to this extraordinary challenge and play a role in bringing essential support to these two brave and committed teams. It’s a real honour to be a Master Sponsor for the licensing industry’s biggest charity challenge of the year,” said Michael Chan of Playmates Toys.
In addition, the two Master Sponsors will pay for the pilot, crew, observers, Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation (CS&PF) registrations and access to the internal marina at Dover. They will also fund pick-up collections, car parking and a swimming license for the English Channel.
Both sponsorships also include a donation towards this year’s Light Fund Challenge target of £250,000. This sum will be shared by principal beneficiary the Royal National Lifeboat Association and a number of other organisations and projects supported by the charity.
Around 70 other businesses working in the licensing industry have supported the swimmers so far with sponsorships ranging from hundreds to thousands of pounds. The money raised and pledged has taken the two teams almost two-thirds of the way to their target of £250,000, which will be a record for any single Light Fund challenge.
“Without the dozens of sponsors and hundreds of smaller donations from so many people in the licensing industry this wouldn’t be happening,” said Stephen Gould, Captain of one of the relay teams.
“If you’ve backed us already, our sincere and grateful thanks. If you haven’t as yet, there are many more opportunities to support our teams and the many very worthwhile causes backed by the licensing industry’s very own charity.”
The Light (Licensing Industry Giving Help Together) Fund is a registered charity organization from the UK licensing industry. Since its creation in 2004, The Light Fund has raised over £1.7 million to fund various charity projects.
Every sponsor will be namechecked in a special thank-you video that will be among the highlights of this year’s Licensing Awards ceremony.
On the day of the relay race, a limited access live feed is also planned in tandem with GPS trackers on each pilot boat.