Butlins signs up to sponsor UK charity swimming event
Holiday resort Butlins is to take over from BT as sponsor of the Swim-athon, in a deal worth more than &£750,000.
The nationwide charity swimming event, which had no headline sponsor this year, had been backed by BT for 11 years. It will now become the Butlins Swimathon.
The deal has been brokered by Redmandarin, the company tasked with finding or creating a suitable branding event for Butlins in August (MW August 8). The Swimathon rights are owned by LEA Events of London.
Butlins, which is owned by Bourne Leisure, has been repositioning itself to prove more attractive to a youthful audience and shake-off its “Hi-De-Hi” holiday camp image. It has staged pop concerts by acts including Pop Idol winner Will Young and its Winter Breaks brochure included themed breaks such as a Soapstars holiday.
Sales and marketing director Marc Jones says: “Butlins Swimathon is a perfect partnership – the participation and reach of the event is right on target.”
The main charity to benefit from the Swimathon is Macmillan Cancer Relief and about 550 swimming pools are expected to support the event in March. Butlins is considering providing poolside entertainment at the top 25 venues and will be exploiting the rights heavily at the pools on its own sites.
