The newly revamped Abta travel industry charity raised £36,000 at the recent Travel Convention and received a further boost at World Travel Market this week.
Abta Lifeline, the new name for the Abta Benevolent Fund, was relaunched at the Travel Convention, which took place in Malta last month.
Throughout this week car rental broker Affordable Car Hire ran a competition jointly for the charity and the Family Holiday Association on its WTM stand.
It offered visitors the chance to have their picture taken to enter a prize draw to win a Ferrari driving experience day.
Trudie Drake, Abta Lifeline director, said: “It’s now very much about spreading the word. The next step is giving members the communication tools for their intranets and notice boards to promote Abta Lifeline in their companies.”
Among the firms to have pledged support are Tui Travel, Avis, On The Beach and Classic Collection.
The charity also received flights from British Airways, Air Malta and Virgin Atlantic to auction.
Companies have until November 30 to sign up to the charity’s £1 per employee fundraising appeal and be entered into a draw for a pair of Eurostar tickets.
Drake said the charity received 14 applications for assistance since the Travel Convention, including one from a pregnant former travel agent who can only afford to spend £20 a month on food following redundancy.