1891
Established
29
Schools in 2024
368
Holidays in 2024
Welcome to Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre
Since 1891, Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre has given children facing challenging circumstances in their daily lives, the chance to experience something many of us take for granted – a holiday by the sea. We are a small but determined Derbyshire charity with a big impact, built on the belief that every child deserves joy, adventure, and memories to cherish.
Why we do what we do
Too many children in Derbyshire are growing up in poverty or difficult circumstances. Many will never enjoy a holiday, feel sand between their toes, or experience carefree time away from daily struggles. These missed opportunities don’t just take away fun – they limit confidence, wellbeing, and hope for the future.
What we do about it
We provide free, fully supported seaside holidays at our centre in Skegness. Here, children are cared for by our dedicated staff and volunteers, enjoy good food, laughter, trips to the beach, and activities that nurture their confidence, resilience, and friendships. These holidays give children a break from challenges at home and the chance to return happier, more confident, and ready to thrive.
Why we’re needed
For many children, this is their very first holiday. The difference is lasting – they come home with memories, smiles, and a sense that they matter. With rising child poverty, our work is more needed now than ever.
How you can help change a child’s life
Donate – just £384 funds a holiday for one child. You can do this by using either our ‘Go Fund Me‘ or ‘Just Giving‘ appeal pages,
Fundraise – take on a challenge, hold an event, or join one of our campaigns.
Volunteer – give your time at our centre or support us locally. Email: [email protected]
Partner with us – schools, businesses, and community groups can work with us to bring hope to children.
How you can help change a child’s life
- Connect & share with others – follow our journey on social media as we plan for a brighter future. Share our mission and story to help us raise awareness.
- Share your story – have you or a close family member visited our Centre for a holiday? Share your story with us – we would love to hear from you! Email us [email protected]Come along and join in – look at our events page to see what’s going on, where and when, come along, have a chat about what we are up to and how you might be able to help.
Together, we can continue to make a lasting difference in their lives. Every contribution, big or small, creates brighter futures for Derbyshire’s children.
Join Us in Making a Difference: The Comeback Appeal 2026
For over 130 years, we’ve been offering children the chance to create cherished memories, build confidence, and enjoy the magic of a seaside break. These holidays provide so much more than fun—they offer a vital boost to the well-being of children who need it most. But rising costs have been no secret and so we have taken the decision to pause holidays at our centre in 2025, with the aim of coming back bigger and stronger in 2026.
So the goal of our 'Comeback Appeal' is to raise £75,000 to bring back our life-changing holidays to disadvantaged children in Derbyshire and spread joy and hope to even more children in 2026.
This year, we need your help to make this possible. By contributing to The Comeback Appeal, you’ll be helping us bring sunshine back into the lives of children who might not otherwise experience a holiday.
Every donation, big or small, brings us closer to giving these children the gift of happiness, hope, and unforgettable memories.
Thank you in advance for your generosity and support for this cause that means so much to all of us. Together, we can make 2026 a year to remember for Derbyshire’s children.
Let’s make the comeback stronger than ever.
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Contact Us Today
Some of Our Valued Supporters
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Great Northern Classics Derby | Family Fun Day | 9th May 2026
As followers, you will no doubt remember the post made last weekend about the fundraiser event at Great Northern Classics Derby where on our stall we ran a Teddy Tombola, a guess the birthday and a super raffle with some fantastic prizes to be won.
Dubbed 'Planes, Trains & Automobiles' the event featured some great stuff which included:-
- An FI simulator
- A train simulator
- A visit with regular firings up, of a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine (of Spitfires and Hurricanes fame)
- A plethora of Rolls Royce cars from the enthusiasts at the club
- Giant slot car racing (seriously good fun, and competitive!)
- Breakfasts, pizzas, nachos, hot dogs, sweet treats and drinks
On the day we were excited to see so many people coming along to the event, the big draw being the Rolls Royce Merlin engine (watch the attached video of it firing it up on the day) and that was closely followed by the Teddy Bear Tombola where we were able to make the day of 34 people who walked away clutching their new best friend, their new Teddy!
And as promised in my earlier post we wanted to share the fantastic news about the amount of money raised from the numerous activities on the day; drum roll please; it is an amazing £1499.37!
Wow!
Truly a brilliant amount which will make a difference to our charity and go towards ensuring we can comeback and start running holidays for disadvantaged children once again.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you want to learn more via an IM or via email to [email protected] ... See MoreSee Less
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✨ Join us for a very special celebration! ✨
As Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre marks 135 years of changing children’s lives, we’d love you to join us for a fabulous Afternoon Tea Fundraiser at Repton on Sunday 28th June at 2pm.
Enjoy:
A glass of fizz on arrival
Delicious afternoon tea
Entertainment
Raffle
Charity auction hosted by Charles Hanson
Every ticket helps us give disadvantaged children the chance of a happy seaside holiday.
Tickets £35
Book now: derbyshirechildrensholidaycentre.beaconforms.com/form/e8e531e3
#DerbyshireChildrensHolidayCentre #AfternoonTea #CharityEvent #DerbyshireEvents #SupportChildren
Repton School ... See MoreSee Less
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🚴 FOUR DAYS TO GO!🚶♂️➡️
It's just four days to go until the brilliant COSY Bike and Hike 2026 - a big highlight in the fundraising calendar for ourselves and our friends at Derby Kids' Camp.
This year there are around 250 people taking part, whether that's volunteering, walking or cycling.
To all of those people - thank you.
The day starts bright and early at Derby Arena on May 16.
It will raise many thousands of pounds to help us and Derby Kids' Camp provide holidays to children who badly need one.
There are lots of reasons why the children we help benefit from one of our seaside holidays.
They might come from families where rising costs of living are biting hard. A holiday is simply not an option.
Or they might face other challenges.
Caring for relatives.
Bereavement.
The more money raised at the Bike & Hike, the more of those children we and Derby Kids' Camp can help.
It would be great to get those donations rolling in - the link to donate or set up a fundraising page is in the comments.
And here are some great photos from last year's brilliant event as inspiration! ... See MoreSee Less
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www.justgiving.com/campaign/cosy-bike-and-hike-2026
Saturday 9th May 2026 | Mayor of Amber Valley quiz | Heanor Grammar
The Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre are extremely grateful and proud to have been selected by The Mayor of Amber Valley - Cllr Steve Marshall-Clarke as his nominated charity for 2025-2026.
As Steve's tenure as Mayor comes to an end on Wednesday 13th May 2026, we were invited to the final fundraising quiz at Heanor Grammar, Heanor.
The event was a great success, a full compliment of quizzers coupled with great buffet were able to enjoy a fantastic evening.
Bringing the local community together whilst having fun and raising funds, a truly brilliant combination. As you'll see in the image attached to this post, Steve was joined many other Mayors, affectionately known on the night as 'the chain gang' including Barbara Anne Hastings-Asatourian M.Sc B.Nurs who was elected as High Peak Mayor on 7th May 2026.
The event raised over £700 for the charity, that’s absolutely amazing and will help with the holidays that will start again this month.
Thanks go to everyone who attended, again special thanks to Steve for creating the event and to Laura for making it possible.
There's more...........
We have provided links to our website along with current activities that are focused on fund raising where you can make donations to help support our wonderful charity:-
COMEBACK APPEAL 2026
www.justgiving.com/campaign/comeback2026
COSY BIKE AND HIKE
www.justgiving.com/campaign/cosy-bike-and-hike-2026
BOOK HOLIDAYS WITH RIVIERA TRAVEL
When you book a river cruise, yacht cruise or solo holiday, 10% goes to Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre – helping give Derbyshire children a life-changing seaside break. 🌊💙
📞 Call 01283 893 550 (mention DCHC)
💻 www.rivieratravel.co.uk/?sourceid=DCHC
Alternatively if you have some spare time and want to be part of a well loved charity and volunteer please send us an email at [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you.
We hope you'll find time to look into everything we do at the Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre using the link provided, thank you.
dchc.org.uk/what-we-do/ ... See MoreSee Less
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