A highly valued Derbyshire children’s charity will benefit from top-hole support over the next year after a local golf club pledged a year of fundraising.
The Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre – which opened up again to young visitors in March – will be enjoying the results of fundraising from members at Breadsall Priory Golf Club after both the men’s and ladies’ captains adopted it as their charity of the year.
The holiday centre, a charity which has been going for 132 years, pays for youngsters in the county to enjoy five-day stays at its specialist base in Skegness. Children are nominated when they may not have the opportunity to have a holiday, either because of financial hardship or other reasons, such as caring for relatives.
It runs from March to October, taking a new group of children every week, many of whom have never previously met.
Nigel Gell, men’s captain at Breadsall Priory Golf Club, said: “I come from an education background and the charity is one that I’ve known about from my career, and I know all about the good work that it does for children who don’t necessarily have the same chances that other children get in having a holiday. The establishment I used to work for used to send children to the centre, so that’s why we’ve chosen it as our charity of the year.”
The golf club captains are planning many fundraising activities for the holiday centre over the next year, including raffles, drive-ins, a charity dinner and golfing challenges.
Alan Grimadell, chairman of the Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre, said: “We are very grateful to Nigel and Janice at Breadsall Priory Golf Club for adopting our charity for the year. It means so much to us to know that we are being supported by both the men’s and the ladies’ captains. Every pound raised helps put a smile on the face of another child from Derbyshire who will get to enjoy a carefree week at our holiday centre in Skegness. Our heartfelt thanks go to members of the golf club for helping us continue make this happen.”
With the first busload of children setting off for the holiday centre in Skegness in March, hundreds of children from around the county are set to enjoy a break by the seaside courtesy of the charity this year.
Natalie Lloyd, whose 10-year-old daughter has been one of the first children to go to the holiday centre in 2023, said: “It’s really good. If you’re not going to go away, it gives children that opportunity and I think it really helps with their confidence as well.”
Parents also said they greatly appreciated their children being given a treat that they might otherwise not have been able to fund.
One mother whose child went to the centre, Kelly Morley, said: “I work in the NHS and it’s hard. Everything is hand to mouth. Everything you earn just goes on bills, so we have got no luxuries in life at the moment, and this week has been a little luxury that we didn’t have to pay for.”
The Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre was recently recognised by the departing High Sheriff of Derbyshire, Mike Copestake, for its services to the community.
To donate to the charity, with a million people living in Derbyshire, the charity’s plea is for people to be ‘One in a Million’, donating £4 a month by texting DCHCMILLION to 70085.
For more information, email Lucy Stephens on lucy@penguinpr.co.uk or call her on 0771 983 9446.
