Foresters UK Volunteers Build Playground for Local Community

    KENT, ENGLAND, December 14, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Thanks to the hard work of local volunteer members of Foresters UK, part of the international financial services organisation, The Bristol Children's Help Society (Registered Charity Number 1092921) now has a brand-new playground at Barton Camp, near Winscombe. 45 local Foresters volunteers braved the changeable weather on Saturday 10th December to assemble and install an exciting new play area to entertain the many children who come from all over Bristol to stay at the activity centre.

Michael Hardwick, MBE, Chairman of The Bristol Children's Help Society, said: "We have relied on the support and generosity of local organisations since 1884 to be able to provide the many disadvantaged children living in Bristol and the surrounding areas with an enjoyable escape to the country from their normal city environment. We are therefore delighted that our partnership with Foresters has created this wonderful new playground facility. We are immensely grateful to Foresters for the funds and volunteer support they have provided to turn our vision into reality. We simply couldn't have done it without them".

Elizabeth Carrington-Porter, Regional Manager at Foresters, said: "David Jones and Trevor Williams, local members of the Mendip Branch of Foresters, brought this project to my attention to see if we could help. Foresters' purpose is to champion the well-being of families and actively promotes healthy family time through its community activities. As part of Foresters International Playground Build programme, we have provided much needed funds and volunteer support to build more than 100 playgrounds across the USA, Canada and the UK since 2006. It's our privilege to be able to work with The Bristol Children's Help Society to benefit so many children from the Bristol area."

Trevor Williams commented: "The Bristol Children's Help Society is committed to continuously improving the facilities they offer to the visiting children at Barton Camp. As a volunteer group, we support many local charities and we are delighted that so many of our members volunteered to help us with this project".

For more information about Foresters please visit www.foresters.co.uk.

About Foresters

Foresters, is an international financial services organisation which has operated in the UK, US and Canada for over 135 years. We are committed to understanding your financial needs and to offering products and membership benefits, which will assist you with your financial security and peace of mind.

Our purpose is to enhance the well being of members and their families, and we measure our success not only by financial strength, but also by the positive impact we have on our members' communities.

In the UK last year we supported more than 100 charities and raised over GBP3m for those charities and other community partners. Thousands of our members provided much needed volunteer hours to help communities throughout the country.

As an example, our work with Cash for Kids in their 2010 Christmas Toy Appeal helped 200,000 children to have a better Christmas and 600,000 toys and gifts were delivered to needy children. Our support for UK children's hospices has helped these organisations to provide a range of services to nearly 10,000 families.

Foresters have received an "A" (Excellent) rating for the eleventh consecutive year from A.M. Best Company*. This independent rating assesses Foresters ability to pay claims and is an important measure of the organization's strength and stability. A.M. Best also gave Foresters an issuer credit rating of "a+" with a "stable" outlook.

*An "A" (Excellent) rating is assigned to companies that have a strong ability to meet their ongoing obligations to policyholders and have, on balance, excellent balance sheet strength, operating performance and business profile when compared to the standards established by A.M. Best Company. In assigning Foresters rating, A.M. Best stated that Foresters rating outlook is "stable", which means it is unlikely to change in the near future, assuming Foresters financial strength is maintained and operations grow. A.M. Best assigns ratings from A++ to F, A++ being superior ratings and A and A- being excellent ratings.

About The Bristol Children's Help Society (TBCHS)

TBCHS was founded in 1884, the Barton Camp Children's Centre being established at the present location in 1890. Since then more than 100,000 children have enjoyed a break here. All remember the unique and calming atmosphere contributed by the caring staff, while many say it helped change their lives.

Bristol Children's Help Society continues to be run successfully by a small group of dedicated unpaid volunteers. We believe that our voluntary approach generates the best results.

Our mission is:
- To support young children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds particularly those living in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire and to give them an opportunity to extend their horizons beyond the deprivation in which many of them live.
- To achieve this through the provision of respite and study breaks in a safe and stimulating environment, where children feel secure and can build the resilience so necessary to cope with their difficult lives.
- To do this for all deprived children on a highly subsidised basis or free for the most disadvantaged children.

For more information about TBCHS, please visit www.tbchs.org.uk.

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