Well-known Derbyshire Children's Holiday Centre is attempting to become financially more self-sufficient by opening up for low-cost school residentials for the first time.
The Skegness centre has been giving free holiday breaks to Derbyshire children since 1891 but during 2025 was forced to pause its operations because funds - it relies solely on donations - had run low and it needed to regroup and rethink future strategies.
Supporters managed to raise £150,000 to ensure the return of the free breaks, helped by , and also raised awareness of the situation facing this and many other self-funding charities.
- 'Ashbourne has been reborn. Now it needs to be rebuilt'
- Fraudsters jailed after posing as police to get victim's bank cards
As result, as well as resuming free breaks for disadvantaged children from May 2026, the long-running charity has decided to offer schools the chance to take advantage of its fully equipped seaside centre for the first time so that more children can benefit from very low-cost residential trips - any schools will be able to apply.
The charity’s chief executive, Janine Holmes, a former head teacher herself, is launching the new scheme to allow schools to book seaside residentials at a fraction of the cost they would normally pay.
The innovative scheme is aimed at creating a sustainable future for the charity as well as allowing school head teachers to offer residential trips to children and ease the financial burden on parents and their own tight budgets.
Research of nearly 1,500 state school staff by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) on behalf of the Sutton Trust educational charity has found that the proportion of senior leaders cutting trips and outings more than doubled in one year, while a survey of parents by Zurich Municipal reported that a third of families find school trips too expensive leading to young people missing out on important enrichment.
The move from the enterprising charity means not only that many more children will be able to enjoy its fully kitted out centre in Skegness with games room, chill-out lounge and creative room.
The charity is offering up the centre for two or four night stays with costs starting at £37.50 a night per child – around half the cost of most school residential providers and about a third of leading brands.
The cost includes all food plus paid staff who will be on hand to lead activities such as games on Skegness’s famous sandy beach.
Ms Holmes said: “As someone who has been involved in school residential trips for more than 30 years, I know how important they are to schools but also how expensive they have become – prohibitively so in some cases. But it’s such a vital part of children’s development to enjoy a stay away from home and their normal school environment. Many people still remember the joy of their school trip.
“I’m really excited about our school residential offer. It ticks so many boxes – I think it is a great offer for schools and busy head teachers to know they are sending their children somewhere safe that is set up for holidays and in the classic seaside town of Skegness too, which after all is all about having fun.
“The cost of living crisis has really affected families and schools and I want to help so I’m offering our centre at a very low cost - £75 for two nights per child – with some great offers in there as well to reduce it even further.”
The charity has created partnership opportunities allowing schools to get a discount in return for organising one in-year fundraiser for the charity, as well as corporate matched funding schemes to help schools with children who claim free school meals.
Ms Holmes said she feels the charity’s offer will be perfect for many schools which want a residential experience but have had to cut back to reduce costs.
Having paid, trained staff on hand who have had experience with children through helping run the charity’s holidays will be an added bonus, she said, and there is also the option of special deals with Skegness attractions such as the local swimming pool.
She added: “I have been a head teacher myself and have talked to many heads in my time running this well-loved charity. They would like a safe, fun trip for children where the basics are taken care of – our centre is beautifully furnished with brand new bunk beds, a really good fun games room as well as TV lounge, well stocked book shelves for quieter children and a brilliant creative room.
“Head teachers rely on staff goodwill to help run trips so it’s important our centre is fully staffed too, helping everyone relax and enjoy themselves.”
The Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre will be opening up for school residential breaks from May next year.
The school residential scheme will run throughout the summer term – with the exception of half term – and resume in September until the October half term. For information click here
No comments:
Post a Comment