Halsbury Ski, a school ski-travel company based in Nottingham, has been announced as the latest corporate partner of Snowsport England – the national governing body for skiing and snowboarding in England.
Halsbury Ski is the school ski tours division of the Halsbury Group. The family-run travel company, which was founded in 1986, employs over 80 people and specialises in organising school trips, including ski trips, to Europe, Canada and the USA for secondary schools all over the UK. Halsbury was founded by a former teacher to help other teachers to inspire young people to reach their potential by encouraging learning outside of the classroom.
The sponsorship comes six weeks ahead of National School Snowsport Week, which is organised by Snowsport England. The national campaign week will run from 24th to 30th June 2019 at clubs and ski slopes all over the country.
Halsbury Ski was founded by keen skier and former teacher Keith Sharkey, who still runs the company today as its Managing Director.
“I’ve been skiing for over 40 years and love the sport. We’ve got many keen skiers and snowboarders in the team and I want to do something to encourage more people, particularly children, to catch the snowsports bug!” said Keith.
“I am incredibly passionate about the benefits of skiing and snowboarding to our physical and mental wellbeing, and so we are always looking for ways to provide more exciting snowsports experiences for school groups.
“We already plan skiing trips for schools throughout the year through Halsbury Ski and now also provide racing experiences through our organisation of the Independent Schools Ski Championships (ISSC), which gives young skiers the opportunity to compete against one another abroad.
“However, we wanted to take our involvement to the next level. I’m a huge advocate for the work which Snowsport England are undertaking, particularly on the engagement and investment in getting more younger people involved in the sport.
“Part of that strategy is National School Snowsport Week, which we are looking forward to supporting in a variety of different ways as part of our sponsorship.”
This will be Snowsport England’s fourth National School Snowsport Week, and it’s set to reach over 75 schools and 3,500 young people, making it the biggest yet. The awareness week will see many dry and indoor slopes across England running free or discounted sessions to give young people from all backgrounds the chance to take up snowsports.
Tim Fawke, CEO of Snowsport England, commented: “I would like to thank Keith and the team at Halsbury Ski for committing and investing in Snowsport England and the work we are committed to.
“With the financial backing from companies like Halsbury Ski, we are able to better reach more and more people interested in taking up snowsports, particularly children at school.
“As school ski specialists, Halsbury Ski are in a prime position to strengthen the engagement work we are doing in schools before, during and after National School Snowsport Week.”