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The Royal British Legion launches free breaks for children of serving families
The Royal British Legion is offering free Poppy Adventure Breaks this summer,
for the children of serving men and women in the Armed Forces.
The one week breaks at Worksop College, Notts, Pangbourne College, Berks
and The Old Malthouse in Dorset, are designed to give children an activity
break with like-minded youngsters in the summer holidays. They are
aimed at 12 – 17 year olds and will be rolled out in three separate
areas in the UK in July and August 2008.
The breaks have been introduced in response to the results from a 2005
welfare survey, which identified a need for a scheme to occupy youngsters
in the service community, whose parent(s) may be serving and away from
home for long periods of time. Nearly 10% of households in the
UK are lone parent households and 80,000 lone parent households are
in the
ex-service community.
Poppy Adventure Breaks are being provided by Kids Klub Activity Holidays. A
seven night package will include full board accommodation, all on
site activities, a trip to a nearby theme park, 24 hour day supervision, pocket
money, insurance and transport to and from the centre via mini bus.
Ian Philip, Poppy Breaks Manager at The Royal British Legion said: “The
key focus of this initiative is for the Legion to offer assistance
to service families in isolation, perhaps children from one parent families,
or where
a parent is serving on overseas operations, or from families who
have not had a holiday from home in 3 years or are on low incomes.
“
The idea of the scheme is to give children who are isolated the opportunity
to build and develop confidence and skills through group activities
amongst others from similar backgrounds, that is, parents with service connections. It
is also hoped the breaks will provide a period of respite for parents and
in particular
be great fun for the young people.”
Further information on the service can be obtained by calling the Legion
helpline: Legionline: 08457 725 725.
For
Press Enquiries, please contact: Jenny Keeling, Public Relations
Officer, The Royal British Legion - tel: 020 7302 7140; mob:
07966 548 232; email
jkeeling@britishlegion.org.uk
