THE INVESTOR
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17
INTERVIEW
Harry Borden
celebration.‘We go to the pantomime, there’s
a carol service, the children meet Father
Christmas, they get a Christmas stocking –
it’s the works,’ he says.
Professionals who work with children,
such as teachers, social workers and GPs,
refer children to the charity. People who
work in this arena become accustomed to
emotionally charged situations butYvonne
Matthews, a Student
Support Manager
and Referrer at
President Kennedy
School in Coventry,
says that just thinking
of what CHICKS
achieves during a five-
day visit still brings
her up in goose
bumps after six years
of working with the
charity.The school has sent 50 children to
CHICKS during that time.
‘It’s a roller coaster of emotions,’ she says.
‘The friendships our children make in that
short space of time are unbelievable.’
Leaving after a stress-free week can
be upsetting for some of the children but
CHICKS sends them off with a memory bag
of photos and Freepost envelopes so that
they can keep in touch with staff.‘When
children write to us, we always write back,’
says Bunting.‘We send out 3,600 letters and
1,200 Christmas parcels a year.’
Josie Goldthorpe was 12 when she was
first referred for a holiday with CHICKS.
She spent her childhood years caring for
her mother, who suffers from myalgic
encephalopathy (ME). Her mother was
nervous about Josie and her sister going out
and the majority of their time outside school
was spent in the house.‘We didn’t get a lot of
sunlight,’ says Josie.‘We did the washing and
cooking and my Mum could barely walk, so
we had to help her move around.’
Going on a CHICKS holiday was a
revelation.‘You can’t imagine the sense of
freedom. I could be me and not worry about
the caring responsibilities at home,’ she says.
‘I went horse riding for the first time. I was
very nervous but with all the encouragement
I got on and it was spectacular.’
I
t can be difficult for charities to
measure their effectiveness but
CHICKS, which stands for Country
Holidays for Inner City Kids, gets
concrete proof in the post every day
in the form of thank-you letters from its
grateful beneficiaries.
‘It was the best week ever as I made new
friends and experienced new things and
adventures,’ wrote one child.
‘The [CHICKS] workers spoilt me, cared
for me, praised me, which helped me to build
my confidence and helped me to grow as a
person. I realised that in order for me to be
happy, I have to be myself,’ said another.
CHICKS organises and runs breaks for
disadvantaged children who would not
otherwise get to enjoy a holiday; indeed,
some have never had a holiday.The children,
aged between 8 and 15, are from diverse
backgrounds and cultures. Some live in
poverty or have been neglected or abused.
Others have lost their mum or dad or
become carers for their parent(s).The one
thing they all have in common is that they
have little, if any, chance to just be children.
CHICKS gives them that opportunity.
A visit to one of the charity’s two centres
– the Coastal Retreat in Cornwall and the
Moorland Retreat in Devon – provides
an environment that is free from fear and
responsibility, where children can play, make
friends and try new activities.A typical
five-day visit will include horse riding, team
games, swimming, climbing and a day out at
an adventure park.
‘Their lives might be their home and
school, and that will be it,’ saysTim Bunting,
Head of Fundraising and Communications for
CHICKS.‘We’ve had children from Plymouth
who have never been to the beach. One little
boy this summer was convinced a sheep was
a polar bear – with us, they experience the
outdoors for the first time.’
Food is also a big part of the holiday;
Bunting says that some of the children don’t
eat well at home.At CHICKS they get home-
cooked food, from wraps and soups to roasts
and comfort puddings such as spotted dick.
Perhaps the most special visits take
place at Christmas.The children arrive
on 23 December for a traditional festive
Josie is 19 now and studying sociology
at Cardiff University. She is so grateful to
CHICKS for the experiences and confidence
she gained during her breaks that she now
returns regularly to help out as a volunteer.
‘The volunteers I met there while on holiday
have been the real mentors of my life,’ she
says.‘They gave me so much – now I want to
give back something.’
CHICKS doesn’t
receive any government
funding, instead relying
on donations and the
help of 450 volunteers
each year to keep its
valuable work going.
The St. James’s Place
Foundation, the
charitable arm of
St. James’s PlaceWealth
Management, has
been instrumental in helping CHICKS fund
a new centre, which is currently in its pilot
phase. It has matched the funds that CHICKS
has raised towards the cost of buying and
renovating an old property in the Peak
District, resulting in a £770,000 donation
from the Foundation towards Daleside.
‘St. James’s Place helped kick-start
the move towards opening a new centre,’
says Bunting.‘This provided the project
with credibility and opened the door
to other sources of funding.We wouldn’t
have Daleside without the support of
St. James’s Place.’
The new centre will make it much easier
for up to 600 children a year from the
Midlands and the North to take advantage
of the opportunities offered by CHICKS.
The charity hopes to open a second centre
within an hour’s drive of Daleside by 2020.
The impact on those who attend the
centres can be significant. Bunting says one
boy, who had been at risk of joining a gang and
falling into crime, now appreciates the point
of staying on track and working in school.
‘Other children have said we have shown
them how to love their own children, and
even saved their lives,’ he says.‘But it’s very
simple what we do – giving children time and
experiences that will probably stay with them
for the rest of their lives.’
The St. James’s Place
Foundation helped
kick-start the move
towards opening
a new centre
