The industry is being called on to help with a fundraising drive on March 31 for one of the sector’s most prominent charities, which works to help colleagues in need.
Those affected by life-changing medical conditions, bereavement, disability and domestic violence are among those eligible to receive charitable support.
Last year, Abta LifeLine came to the aid of an industry member who lost his livelihood as a consequence of the dwindling demand for holidays in Tunisia.
The individual, who does not wish to be named, had been living and working for a number of UK tour operators in the country for more than 25 years. However, following the Sousse terror attack in June 2015, demand for tourism in Tunisia declined.
After months of waiting out the downturn in the hope that business would pick up, he returned to the north of England with no home or job in March, 2016.
Eventually, he managed to secure a part-time job in a supermarket and an unfurnished one-bedroom property to live in.
It was then that he turned to Abta LifeLine, who gave him a grant of £1,000 to buy household items including a sofa, fridge freezer, washing machine and some cooking utensils. “Thanks to Abta LifeLine I now find myself settling down and have recovered my life,” the recipient of the grant said.
In 2014, Abta LifeLine also helped former agent Tricy Blackburn, whose three-year-old son Zach has an inoperable benign brain tumour, multiple genetic disorders and is fed through a peg in his stomach.
Blackburn wrote to Abta LifeLine asking for help with building a sensory room to give Zach a calm environment to help his development, and after industry-wide fundraising, enough money was raised to build the room.
Trudie Drake, director of Abta LifeLine, said: “These examples show that we are always there in difficult times.
“No one knows what’s around the corner in life and we are always there to reach out a hand when it’s needed.”
