The European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA) began its tenth anniversary year in style at ISPO, by raising nearly €7000, hosting an After Work get together, and by being supported by members organising other fun and fundraising activities to mark the occasion.
Since EOCA was founded, €1.8 million has been raised and spent on conservation by the Association. This money, raised from and by member companies all operating in the European outdoor industry, has funded conservation projects in 36 different countries around the world, and made a real difference to many landscapes, habitats and local communities.
Twenty EOCA members kindly donated gear to the EOCA Conservation Fundraiser, held everyday on the EOCA stand. In addition, the Scandinavian Outdoor Group and Goal Zero collected further funds for the Association during happy hours they hosted during the show. The ISPO After Work, hosted by EOCA and KEEN outside in the A1/B1 atrium was very popular. Many people enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere, music and free drinks, as well as the table football and conservation photo booth. A small number of limited edition EOCA insulated mugs produced by Stanley – A PMI brand, were very popular and quickly sold. The Dirty Water Challenge organised by new EOCA Member LifeStraw drew a lot of attention to this innovative product. Whilst enjoying the fun, visitors also generously made donations to EOCA at the bars. In total, €6786 were raised during the four days of the show.
In addition, EOCA General Managers were delighted to welcome Hilleberg Tents into membership during the show, and Kutupayisi Teks – a Turkish distributor -soon after. Lisa Nilsson from Hilleberg said “We are excited to work with EOCA and its many members, to put back into the great outdoors which we are so passionate about.”
On the final day of the show, EOCA was honoured to receive ISPO’s Medal of Performance. This award was made to EOCA in recognition of the Association’s longstanding support and successful cooperation and partnership with ISPO and businesses in the European outdoor industry.
Catherine Savidge, Joint General Manager of EOCA said, “ISPO 16 was great success for EOCA. We are very grateful to EOCA members who yet again stepped up to raise money at the show for conservation of threatened environments and habitats in the great outdoors. It was a pleasure to work with existing members, and we look forward to them and the public helping us to decide where the next tranche of EOCA money is spent during the public vote which will be hosted on www.outdoorconservation.eu from 1-22 March.”
Notes to Editors:
The European Outdoor Conservation Association is an initiative from the European outdoor industry with the objective of protecting the wild areas it cares so passionately about.
Designed to harness the incredible power of the outdoor industry and to raise money to donate to grassroots conservation groups, the European Outdoor Conservation Association is funded by membership and other fundraising activities within the outdoor industry. 100% of membership fees go to the support of projects. Membership is open to anyone that can demonstrate an involvement in the European outdoor industry.
From January 2015, a select group of ‘Sustaining Members’ have pledged their support to EOCA by committing to fund the sustainable growth of the organisation with an extra €10,000 per year for the next three years, over and above their annual membership fee. This money will be used to finance the running of the Association and support its sustainable growth, also enabling a move to 2 funding rounds per year.
The seven EOCA Sustaining Members are: OutDoor (Messe Friedrichshafen), Pertex, KEEN Footwear, Nikwax, ISPO (Messe München), Patagonia and the European Outdoor Group (EOG), which is also the Founder Member of the Association.
INFO: EOCA
