Birmingham Airport Raised Air-mazing £116,000 For Sick Kids

Birmingham Airport celebrated the first anniversary of its three-year partnership with our charity, raising an air-mazing £116,000 for sick kids in the first 12 months.

Staff at the airport voted to support our charity in January 2025, in gratitude for the lifesaving and transformational treatment received by colleagues’ friends and family. Since then, the airport team, its partners and its passengers have been fully ‘on board’ with supporting the cause, getting involved in a packed programme of fundraising activity.

A stand-out moment was the airport’s special charity dinner, held late last year and hosted by BBC Radio West Midlands DJ, Ed James. Moved by an inspirational interview with Elizabeth Soffe, a young patient who receives care at our hospital, guests gave generously and raised over £63,000 for the cause.

Not wanting to stop there, over a hundred brave colleagues from the airport and other businesses at the airport took on a charity abseil, taking the plunge from a whopping 104-feet off the roof of the airport’s head office building, and raising over £32,000.

Other partnership highlights include turning the airport red for a charity takeover day, taking on our annual Dragon Boat race on the canal at Mailbox Birmingham, and hosting a retro-themed Runway Fun Run, where participants ran, walked and danced along the airport runway on behalf of sick kids.

The money and awareness raised from the partnership is already making a huge impact, helping to improve experiences, equipment and environments for the 100,000 children treated annually at our hospital. Projects supported by the partnership include transforming the sensory room on our hospital’s surgical ward, helping neurodiverse patients feel calmer and less overwhelmed at a scary time.

Birmingham Airport’s passion for supporting our hospital has proven unstoppable, and there’s plenty more on the horizon. Its next ‘destination’ is holding a Race the Plane event on Wednesday 18 March, where businesses from across the Midlands will race against a real flight from Birmingham to Cancun on 25-watt bikes.

Nick Barton at Birmingham Airport said: “It’s been an incredible year supporting Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity.

“From fundraising over £116,000 and volunteering over 150 hours to raising awareness of the charity’s impact to help kids, we can’t thank our colleagues, passengers and partners enough for showing so much willingness for getting involved and supporting this amazing cause.”

Helen Miles, Head of Partnerships and Major Donors at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, said: “We’ve been completely blown away by the passion, ideas and enthusiasm of everyone at Birmingham Airport for supporting our hospital and our brave patients.

“They’ve been flying high and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have their support. With so many exciting ideas on the horizon, we can’t wait to see what comes next!”