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TUI and Kuoni pledge money to help Thomas Cook staff
TUI has donated £25,000 to the ABTA Lifeline charity’s appeal to help former Thomas Cook staff who are now in financial difficulties.
Another £5,000 has been donated by Kuoni, the company headed in the UK by ABTA Lifeline chair Derek Jones, while Midcounties Co-operative has pledged £1 per employee.
ABTA Lifeline has set a target of £100,000 to help Thomas Cook staff.
Jones said this figure will only just meet the funds required based on initial requests, not the longer term needs.
Around 9,000 Thomas Cook staff, most of them customer facing agents, crew or reps, lost their jobs when the company failed last month.
Speaking to delegates at this week’s Convention in Toyko, Jones said: "If ever there was a time when ABTA Lifeline is needed than this time is now."
Within hours of his speech to the Convention audience, the total had reached £42,000, including a £5,000 donation from Seabourne Cruise Line and Holland America Line and £1,200 from travel PR company Gosh.
Jones said the charity has been swamped with enquiries from former Thomas Cook staff and has already been busy providing emergency financial assistance, supermarket vouchers and free advice about how to claim benefits.
"Some employees are single mothers, families that all worked at Thomas Cook, were on maternity leave of sick leave or supporting another sick family member," said Jones.
He said some have already found new jobs but others will fall into debt and face losing their homes.
An auction will take place during the Convention to help raise funds. Travel companies are also being urged to donate £1 per employee.
ABTA Lifeline has set up a JustGiving page to help with its Thomas Cook appeal.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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