Charity halts children's holidays due to cash woes

A charity that has been providing holidays for disadvantaged children for more than 100 years says it will not be running any trips in 2025 due to financial problems.

Trustees of the Derbyshire Children's Holiday Centre have announced they are pausing their service this year to undertake a "thorough review" of the charity.

For 130 years, it has been taking groups of children whose families cannot afford a holiday to its centre in Skegness for a five-day break.

The charity hopes to resume holidays in 2026 with chairman Mike Copestake saying the aim is to come back "better, stronger and more resilient to face future challenges".

It is not the first time breaks have been paused by the charity - they previously stopped for a period in the late 1980s as it transitioned from being a local authority-supported organisation to being self-sufficient.

Mr Copestake said the soaring cost of energy and food had taken its toll on the charity's finances in recent months.

"We get no funding, it's entirely donations," he told BBC Radio Derby

"We know that providing a holiday means so much more to the children who attend than just a week's break. It gives them confidence and helps forge friendships and bonds.

"We take 14 children at a time, it's expensive, especially when we have one staff member per two children.

"We need to pause and take a look at what we're doing and see if we can do things more efficiently as we have a funding shortfall.

"Our costs are 50% more than our income at the moment."

Mr Copestake said the charity's cash reserves will be useful to "help turn the place around" over the coming year.

"We think the future is bright because we have ideas with what we want to do," said Mr Copestake.

He added the charity may have to consider hosting "developmental courses" to gain funding grants from the government.

"We could host courses on teaching children how to cook or drama classes with Derby Theatre," he said.

"It's something that's close to all of our hearts and we are all passionate to see it carry on for another 100 years."

Follow BBC Derby on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.