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 are 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.
Our Story
135 Years of Changing Children’s Lives
For 135 years, Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre has been helping children discover the joy, freedom and wonder of a seaside holiday. Since 1891, thousands of Derbyshire children facing poverty, family difficulties, bereavement, caring responsibilities, disability, or other challenges have been given the opportunity to escape their everyday worries and enjoy a few precious days by the sea.
Today, that mission is just as important as it was 135 years ago.
Why We Need Your Help
Many of the children we support have never had a holiday. Some have never seen the sea. Others are carrying worries that no child should have to face.
A holiday may sound simple, but for a child it can be transformational. A week away means:-
* Making new friends
* Building confidence and independence
* Learning new skills
* Having fun and feeling cared for
* Creating happy memories that last a lifetime
Most importantly, it gives children the chance to simply be children.
“I didn’t want to come home. It was the best week of my life.”
The Difference You Can Make
In 2026, we restarted our holiday programme and children are once again paddling in the sea, building sandcastles, exploring new places and discovering new confidence in themselves.
Every donation to our 135th Anniversary Appeal will help provide free residential holidays for Derbyshire children aged 6–11.
* £5 helps provide treats and activities.
* £15 helps cover food and transport.
* £32 a month can fund an entire holiday place over a year.
* £380 can give one child a complete life-changing holiday.
Looking to the Future
As we celebrate 135 years of service, we are not simply looking back at our history we are building the next chapter.
With your support, we can ensure that many more children experience the magic of the seaside, the kindness of caring adults, and the opportunity to flourish.
Be Part of Our Story
Whether you donate £5 or £500, every gift helps create brighter futures for Derbyshire children.
Please support our 135th Anniversary Appeal today and help us continue changing lives for another 135 years.
Thank you for helping Derbyshire’s children flourish!
Facebook Posts
Contact Us Today
Some of Our Valued Supporters
On Monday of this week, 31st August The Needles Pub very generously ran a family fun day.
Mel and Trev from the pub are very supportive of Derbyshire Children's Holiday Centre and have been raising funds for the last couple of years through events, raffles, tombolas and like on Monday, a family fun day.
The event raised an amazing £650! That’s a staggering amount that means so much to us and will help to directly support holidays for disadvantaged children at our centre in Skegness.
Thank you Mel, Trev and everyone at The Needles pub for everything you’re doing.
Simon Evans
Janine Marie
Lee Jepson ... See MoreSee Less
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🇬🇧 HE’S HOME—BUT HE ISN’T HOME YET! 🇬🇧
After crossing Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France, Grzegorz “Greg” Pacho has just stepped off the ferry at Dover and onto British soil.
What an emotional milestone—but Greg still faces an enormous homeward stretch to Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre in Skegness.
Of his extraordinary 1,250-mile challenge:
✅ Approximately 1,045 miles completed
✅ Around 40 marathons covered
✅ Five countries crossed before reaching the UK
✅ Roughly 84% of the journey completed
But there are still around 205 miles to go—the equivalent of nearly EIGHT more marathons.
Greg registered this challenge with Guinness World Records and has been following its required processes. His final record status will be subject to Guinness verification, but whatever the official outcome, what he has already achieved through pain, exhaustion, damaged feet and sheer determination is phenomenal.
He has made it back to Britain. Now we need Britain to help carry him home.
Please leave Greg a message of encouragement, share his story and donate if you can. Let’s make sure he knows that people are waiting for him in Skegness—and that every painful mile is helping children who have experienced hardship.
BBC News ITV News BBC DerbyBBC Lincolnshire ITV Central BBC Look North ITV Calendar Derbyshire Live @top fans Ian Sharman Ultrarunner X-marathon Endurance Run —Greg is now on British soil. Will you help tell the story of his final 205 miles?
Donate here:
www.justgiving.com/page/grzegorz-pacho-1
COME ON, GREG—SKEGNESS IS WAITING! ❤️🏃♂️🇵🇱🇬🇧
#GregPacho #GuinnessWorldRecordsAttempt #WorldRecordAttempt #UltraRunning #Dover #Skegness #Derbyshire #Lincolnshire #RunningForChildren #1200Miles ... See MoreSee Less
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COULD GREG BE ABOUT TO MAKE HISTORY?
Grzegorz “Greg” Pacho is currently attempting an official Guinness World Record—and he is doing it to help children who have experienced hardship.
Greg is trying to cover 1,250 miles—or 2,000 kilometres—from Łódź in Poland to Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre in Skegness in just 17–18 days.
He has registered the attempt with Guinness World Records and is carrying out its required processes. If he reaches Skegness and the evidence is verified, Greg could become an official world record holder.
To understand the sheer scale of this challenge:
• 1,250 miles is approximately 48 marathons.
• Greg must average around 65–75 miles—up to three marathons—every day.
• The route crosses Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and the United Kingdom.
• It is 376 miles longer than the entire Land’s End to John o’Groats route.
• At an ordinary walking pace, the distance would take more than 17 days without stopping once to sleep.
Greg is doing this without a conventional support crew and is depending upon the kindness of strangers for food and places to rest.
His feet are badly blistered. His legs are suffering. Exhaustion is testing him physically and mentally. Yet he continues to put one foot in front of the other for children in Poland and Derbyshire.
This is more than a sporting challenge. It is a potentially record-breaking story of endurance, compassion and the connection between communities across Europe.
BBC News ITV News BBC Look North ITV Calendar BBC Derby BBC Lincolnshire BBC —will you cover Greg’s final journey and be there as he approaches Skegness?
Please share this until someone in a newsroom sees it.
Support Greg and Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre:
www.justgiving.com/page/grzegorz-pacho-1
48 marathons. Six countries. One extraordinary man. One mission for children.
#GuinnessWorldRecords #WorldRecordAttempt #GregPacho #UltraMarathon #BreakingNews #HumanInterest #Skegness #Lincolnshire #Derbyshire #Poland ... See MoreSee Less
Grzegorz's fundraiser for Derbyshire Children's Holiday Centre
www.justgiving.com
Help Grzegorz Pacho raise money to support Derbyshire Children's Holiday Centre0 CommentsComment on Facebook
Farmer's Market, Derby Market Hall 30th August 2026
Yesterday was our first chance as a charity, Derbyshire Children's Holiday Centre to have a small stand at the market hall in Derby city centre. This is a monthly market where local artisans and farmers are able to showcase their produce.
With our pull up banner, some leaflets and a bucket for collecting cash we were able to engage with a number of people and to talk about our centre in Skegness whilst collecting some funds.
A huge thanks to David Turner of derby Derby Uncovered for making this happen for us, and of course to our legendary fundraiser Stuart Boon for setting up the display and patiently providing details of our charity to the attendees.
On the day we raised £36.99 which will go directly to our fundraising account and help to support what we do.
Thanks to all of you that chatted and donated, we couldn't do what we do without your support.
For anyone wanting to see more of what we do, where we do it, and how we do it please use the link below:-
dchc.org.uk/
If you'd like to see what our events are then this one is for you:-
dchc.org.uk/events/
And if you want to donate to our charity then give this one a go:-
dchc.org.uk/donate/
If that's sparked your interest and you want to help our long standing charity, then perhaps this links the one for you:-
dchc.org.uk/volunteering/
Thanks in advance for your engagement.
Janine Marie
Lee Jepson
Simon EvansStuart doing what he does best ... See MoreSee Less
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Hope you had a good day!!
❤️ 96 km. Almost 60 miles. In ONE DAY. And he’s doing it again tomorrow.
Greg Pacho has finally reached his hotel after another extraordinary day on the road, heading towards Eindhoven in the Netherlands. 🇳🇱
But this challenge is taking a huge toll.
Heavy rain has left his feet soaked, his blisters are getting worse, and his legs and feet are in a really bad way. Perhaps hardest of all, Greg has admitted that he is beginning to lose faith in whether he can actually do this.
So this is the moment when he needs the rest of us to believe for him. ❤️
Greg is attempting to cover an incredible 2,000 km / 1,200 miles in just 20 days, raising money to help children — including the children we support at Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre.
At around 3–4am tomorrow morning, he plans to get up and do it all over again.
His target is Dover on 1 September. Right now, every mile is hard-earned.
👉 Please follow Greg’s journey.
👉 Share his story so more people discover what he is doing.
👉 And, if you can, donate. Even a small donation tells Greg that all those painful miles are making a difference.
🌐 1200miles.uk
Greg, when your own belief is running low, please know that there are an awful lot of us back here believing in you.
One foot in front of the other. One mile at a time. We’re with you. ❤️
#1200Miles #2000km #GregPacho #KeepGoingGreg #Fundraising #ChildrensCharity #DerbyshireChildrensHolidayCentre #CharityChallenge ... See MoreSee Less
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Grzegorz gets to Senden in Germany today - nearly 1,000 km from where he started!
That's 21 marathons already!
What an amazing thing he is doing for us. Please do spur him on with a donation if you can.
You can support him easily in several key ways:
Text GIVE5GREG to 70085. It will cost £10 plus a network standard rate.
Key 1200miles.uk into your browser to be taken directly to Greg's fundraising page. ... See MoreSee Less
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