Ending on a £25,000 high!

Just under two years ago we announced Oasis Southampton City Farm as our Carnival UK charity partner, and pledged to raise £25,000 for the Southampton based charity.

Today, we’re pleased to share we’ve hit our £25,000 target which will go toward things like therapy sessions, supplies, farm maintenance and new build projects. All of which will make a huge difference to the charity and none of which would have been possible without all of you. Thank you.

Reaching our target is a great achievement but our partnership is so much more than the funds we’ve been able to raise. Before Covid-19 hit, 339 of you volunteered your time to projects at the farm and many of you have also enjoyed family days out there. Being able to support a small charity and impact the lives of those in our local community is fantastic and we hope many of you will continue to support the farm by visiting them long into the future.”

Kara Goodland, Charity Partnership Lead, Carnival UK

“Thank you, on behalf of all the animals, volunteers and staff at Oasis Southampton City Farm. Your extended support has been outstanding for our charity and has provided a real lift, both in terms of the wonderful Carnival employees we have met during our time together as well as the fundraising you have achieved which has made such a significant impact in the work we have been able to deliver. Please feel very welcome to visit us again and say hello!”

Russell Farley, Oasis Southampton City Farm Manager

While this is a great achievement, it’s also bittersweet. After two years it signifies the end of our partnership with the farm.

At the end of April our partnership with Oasis Southampton City Farm will come to a close and while usually this would signal the opportunity for a new charity partnership for Carnival UK, this year we’ll be doing things a little differently.

To reflect the challenging year we’ve had as a business, and to allow full focus to be on our return to service, we’ll be taking a short pause before selecting our next charity partner for Carnival UK for 2022. We’ll be reviewing opportunities late this year.

Our charity partnerships are really important to us. We have a history of some pretty creative and impressive fundraising efforts, anchored in our sense of community and the get-up-and-go we create as a Carnival UK team. Through charity nominations by our people, we typically support causes that matter to us and that benefit our local community.

We want to be in a position to start any future partnership with the same focus and commitment that we normally do and right now doesn’t feel quite right as we’re so focused on our return to service. We’ll be better placed to give this the commitment it needs later this year, once we’ve got ships sailing and we’re more connected as a team again. I’d envisage us getting a partnership in place for the start of 2022 all being well.

In the meantime P&O Cruises continues a relationship with Teenage Cancer Trust and Cunard with The Prince’s Trust and I’d encourage all of us to think about how we can continue to support those charities in the amazing work they do.”

Jo Phillips, Chief People Officer, Carnival UK

Here’s a look back at some of the fondest moments of our partnership with Oasis Southampton City Farm over the past two years.