VALERO’s 2022 UK Benefit for Children Classic was held this summer at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport to raise money for children’s charities. The overall event raised £355,000, which goes towards supporting children’s charities across the UK.

Money is raised via sponsorship, with some sponsors able to nominate their own preferred charity to receive a donation from the money raised. The event is run by Valero’s head office in London alongside the Valero refinery in Pembroke. The money that’s raised gets split between both sites. Each site then chooses which charities they want the money to go to. Sandy Bear Children’s Bereavement Charity has benefited from this event and has received a generous donation of £45,178.

The event has grown in size over that last nine years and has raised over £1.6 million to date. Next year will be the 10th anniversary and they hope to hit the £2 million milestone!

Karen Codd and Anita Hicks, Clinical Leads of Sandy Bear said:

“We are so grateful for the amazing support which we receive from Valero and their colleagues. This money will allow us to help over 200 bereaved children and young people within Pembrokeshire this year. This donation will allow us to continue to provide families with specialist books, memory boxes and other resources, as well as providing one-to-one support and peer group support.”

Maria James, Valero’s Benefit for Children Classic Event Manager, said:

“This year’s event was amazing – it gets bigger and better each year. Thank you to everyone who took part, who gave up their time to volunteer, and to all the charities we’ve been able to support for providing such vital services for children and their families across the UK.”