Free holiday resort for critically-ill children planned for Staffordshire

Kids' Village, a charity supporting poorly children and their families, has an 'ambitious' goal of building the country's first resort that will give critically ill children a fun holiday free-of-charge.

Holiday company Away Resorts, whose employees choose a national charity to support each year, has chosen Kids' Village to be its Charity of the Year for 2024 as it aims to help the charity with its goal of building the resort.

The charity was co-founded by Sam Fletcher-Goodwin, who was diagnosed with a form of cancer called Rhabdomyosarcoma when she was nine years old.

During what she described as a 'traumatic and uncertain time', Sam and her family visited the 'Give Kids The World' village resort in Florida – since then, Sam and her family have 'dreamt' of creating a similar experience in the UK for critically ill children.

Now 30, Sam is leading efforts to raise funds for the resort's construction. The charity aims to raise £5 million.

In 2023, planning permission was granted for a site in Wychnor in the Staffordshire countryside, with the planned holiday village set to comprise 10 four-bedroom lodges and a central facility called The Hive.

Away Resorts has been a 'long time supporter' of the project – in 2019, three members of the Away Resorts executive team joined the Kids' Village team on The Costa Rica Challenge, crossing Costa Rica from east to west and raising over £20,000 for the charity.

The company now has a number of fundraising events and activities planned for the year ahead that will 'help to turn the holiday village dream into a reality'.

Sam Fletcher-Goodwin, co-founder of Kids' Village, said: "2024 is going to be a big year for Kids' Village; following the issue of the planning permission and the signed lease agreement for the site, we can now go full steam ahead with our capital appeal. We are really excited to have brought in some influential Midlands business leaders to lead this mission to raise the £5 million needed to build the site.

"We are very proud to be supported by Away Resorts, who are a company that very much share in our values. Away Resorts knows the value of a holiday, and our purpose is to offer free holidays for really sick children and their families to focus on joy and time together."

Simon Jones, CEO of Away Resorts, said: "At Away Resorts, we have always taken huge pride in giving back. We make sure that our people are invested in the causes that we support, and that those causes chime with our values as a business. It's why we're so excited to support Kids' Village as our Charity of the Year for 2024, helping to achieve their inspiring and ambitious vision. We can't wait to roll out our fundraising plans this year, working closely with the fantastic Kids' Village team."