Casual Dining Group pledges to raise £40,000 for the Prince's Trust

The Casual Dining Group (CDG), which operates Bella Italia, Café Rouge and Las Iguanas, has pledged to raise £40,000 for the Prince's Trust in a Race to Rio challenge.

CDG staff will collectively cycle the equivalent of 5,839 miles to Rio on 22 static bikes located at the company's restaurants and central offices.

The event will take place during the last weekend of the Olympics and will raise funds for the youth charity, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

Senior CDG members came up with the idea after taking part in a Prince's Trust Zero to Hero day exercise. The day challenges companies to devise a plan to raise as much money as possible for the charity during a set time period.

"Although we're involved with a number of charities on a brand level, we wanted to bring together employees for a collective effort across the business. The Prince's Trust was the perfect match and we're looking forward to working closely together to help tackle industry issues, such as youth unemployment and the chef shortage crisis, in a sustainable fashion."

Tara Leathers, director of fundraising at the Prince's Trust, added: "We are immensely grateful to Casual Dining Group and their staff for their Olympic efforts to raise vital funds for the Trust as we seek to support 100 more young people each day.

"We are particularly impressed by the scale of this campaign."

Since the Prince of Wales founded the charity in 1976, it has helped 825,000 young people move into education, work or training. It aims to help another 59,000 people this year.

In addition to the fundraising activities, CDG plans to support the Prince's Trust by sending representatives to the charity's Get Hired days in order to recruit apprentices into the business.

CDG has more than 300 sites across the country.

To donate visit www.justgiving.com/company/casualdininggivesback

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