How We Do It

How do we make a difference?

The children & families we help are usually referred to us by our Partners.

We currently have 3 luxury holiday homes located on the 4 star Marton Mere Holiday Park in Blackpool.   2 of our homes have wheel chair access.

It is a very friendly site and there is a full program of activities available for the guests to enjoy in the park.  A lot of these are free for the families to enjoy, which is very important.  Every year we are able to offer approximately 90 families a completely free, week long holiday, but we could easily offer more if we had the space.

In the 6 years since The Trust was founded, we have given over 1,000 children and 372 families a holiday.

Families we’ve helped

We often receive letters of thanks from families we’ve helped and the partners we work with. It is these letters that make what we do worthwhile. This is just a selection of some of the comments we have received.

“The families that have been fortunate to access your holiday homes are from a cross section of the valley and have all said what a wonderful time they had.

In some cases it will be the only holiday the children have had or will have in their young lives. The impact of this can not be measured but the memories will stay with them for a long time.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you again on their behalf for your generosity and look forward to continuing our relationship in the future not only in providing holidays for our families but the partnership between yourself and Oakbank.”

“The children you have supported with holidays will have some great memories – and it has also given parents the confidence to think about providing more experiences like these for their children – this clearly demonstrates that it is not always finances which impact on a family’s ability to cope – there are other factors too. The work both Home-Start and the Principle Trust are undertaking is helping parents and children to enjoy family life.”

How the money is spent

Every single penny we raise goes towards giving a child a holiday.  Each holiday home costs approx. £10,000 per year to run.  This includes the upkeep, ground rent, insurance, utilities and additional services, such as cleaning.  This is what we need to raise every year, just to keep the charity going…

Future plans

Our plan for the future is to expand the types of holidays we offer.  We will of course continue to offer holidays in Blackpool as there is a huge demand for them.  But as wonderful as Blackpool is, we realised that a holiday there is not always what a family needs.

There are lots of times when a week in the countryside, in calm rural surroundings would be more beneficial.  For example, if a child has a life limiting condition, a terminal illness or is recovering from an acute illness, such as cancer, an accident or head injury.

There are approximately 4 million children in the UK, who fall into one of these categories.  Many of the families and children in these situations are unable to cope or are in a ‘crisis situation’.

It is unimaginable that thousands of families have to face the very real possibility that their child may die and understandably struggle to cope on a day to day basis.  We would like to find a way to help these families – the ones who are disadvantaged in a different way to the families we currently help.

Therefore, over the next 2 years, we have a fundraising target of approx. £100,000 to enable us to buy a log cabin, sited on a holiday park within the Yorkshire Dales.  Please visit our ‘Get Involved’ Page for more ideas of how you can help us achieve our target.

The Principle Trust Log Cabin Appeal

Help us raise £100K over the next 2 years to buy a log cabin in the Yorkshire Dales.

More Details