More than 100,000 children joined the intu family club initiative within a year of its launch.

Playmobil has renewed its sponsorship of shopping centre owner intu’s family club. intu launched the scheme last May to create an all-year-round programme of interactive activities and exclusive offers for families, following research it carried out showing the importance parents and children place on spending quality time together.

A number of activities designed to encourage family playtime have been rolled out at every intu centre, including giant ball pits, laser mazes and sticker rooms. Members also receive free gifts and discounts throughout the year, including a free Playmobil toy for every new joiner.

50,000 families have enrolled during the intu family club’s first year, comprising double the amount of children members, and more than 150 retailers including Disney Store, Build-A-Bear and Cath Kidston now provide exclusive offers as part of the initiative. Virgin Holidays and Penguin Books are among other family-focused brands to have partnered with intu over the last year by running exclusive competitions and events for family club members.

Hundreds of Playmobil toys will be donated by intu and Playmobil to local autism charities close to each intu centre next month to mark the intu family club’s first birthday. Playmobil is also running a competition for intu family club members to win £1000 worth of toys.

Jamie Dickinson, marketing manager at Playmobil, said: “The intu family club is a fantastic initiative and one that we’ve been thrilled to partner with intu on since its launch last year. Together we’ve been able to reach 100,000 children and Playmobil fans, and share with them the benefits family play can bring.”

Roger Binks, customer experience director at intu, commented: “We launched intu’s family club after our research showed that many parents and children felt they didn’t get to spend enough quality time with each other. We already ran a successful kids club which offered school holiday activities for young children but our focus with the intu family club has been on working with fantastic brands like Playmobil to create more things for parents and children to enjoy together whenever they visit us.”