Cream Tea, Cricket and Charity with Gidleigh Park

Helpful Holidays and Gidleigh Park Hotel go head-to-head in style next month in our annual charity cricket match. 

We're raising money for our charity for 2013, the Devon Air Ambulance Trust. Last year, the match raised over £4,200 for Farms for City Children.

Both teams will don their whites on Sunday 23^rd June 2013 and head to the cricket pavilion in Chagford for 2pm. They will play a limited overs match and while it is for charity and it is for fun, cricket fans will witness strong play from the two closely matched teams.

Our marketing manager Adrian Innocent said: “Last year we saw a magnificent batting display from the Gidleigh Park team to clinch a late win in what was a massive run chase. It was fabulous fun and one of the best displays of clean striking and six hitting I’ve ever seen. For those who would rather just sit back and soak up the atmosphere, they can enjoy the beautiful setting of Chagford Cricket Club, backed by the brooding Meldon Hill.”

Tickets for the Grand Raffle are available from Helpful Holidays on the day, or in advance, and prizes include a champagne lunch for two at Michael Caines restaurant at Gidleigh Park, a weekend break in a 5* Helpful Holidays cottage, a spa treatment for 2 at Bovey Castle, dinner and stay for two at The Arundell Arms with private fly fishing lesson and much more.

The afternoon promises to be the perfect English summer treat, with a hog roast, food tent and decadent cream teas served by Gidleigh Park. Photos from last year’s match can be found here. 

For Information call Helpful Holidays 01647 433593. To plan your next visit to the West Country and to find a holiday home, go to http://www.helpfulholidays.com. 

Helpful Holidays raises over £15,000 for Farms for City Children...

We're delighted to announce that we've raised an amazing £15,581.85 for our 2012 charity of the year, Farms for City Children. 

We arrange over 17,000 cottage holidays a year in the West Country and we can’t thank our holidaymakers enough for their generous donations. By combining them with the proceeds of a hugely successful charity cricket match we held on a sunny Sunday in June against a team from Michael Caines’ Michelin-starred restaurant, Gidleigh Park, and a parachute jump by four brave members of the Helpful Holidays team, we’re delighted to have raised so much money for a charity for which we have great admiration.

Farms for City Children was founded by children’s author Michael Morpurgo and his wife Claire in 1976 with their first farm, Nethercott House in Iddesleigh, deep in the heart of Devon. They now have two more farms, one in Pembrokeshire and the other in Gloucestershire, and the charity aims to expand the horizons of children from towns and cities all over the country by offering them a week living in the countryside on one of the farms. For more details, read our blog post from earlier this year.


Our Helen with farmer Barry Searle and children at Nethercott Farm

Our PR Manager, Helen Hayes, went along to Nethercott House to present a cheque to the charity and had an opportunity to meet the schoolchildren from Sunnyhill Primary School in Streatham. She said, “It’s always a delight to come to Nethercott and to see first-hand the great work the charity does for all the hundreds of children who pass through their doors every year. It’s been a great year for our fundraising efforts and we’d like to thank everyone who has helped us reach this outstanding total.”

Each year we support one of three main charities which are close to our hearts and invite our holidaymakers to make a small contribution, if they wish, when making their bookings. Our charity for 2013 is Devon Air Ambulance Trust. Visit our Facebook page to help us kick off our fundraising for 2013 - we're donating £1 for each new 'like' or 'share' between 10am on 19th December and 5.30pm on 21st December 2012.

Farms For City Children - a week of muck and magic!

As you may know, Farms for City Children is our charity for 2012.

Founded by children’s author Michael Morpurgo and his wife Clare at Nethercott Farm in Devon in 1976, Farms for City Children has since seen 75,000 children aged 9 to 11 take part in its programmes. During the last school year (2010-2011), 2,843 children stayed for 7 days each.

We interviewed their chief executive, Helen Chaloner, to find out more…

Why is the charity so important for children?

Heavy lifting at Wick Court, Gloucestershire

“It’s a rounded experience which enables them to learn through doing.  Children work together in teams and are immersed in a completely different environment for seven days - deep in the countryside, with stars in the night sky.”

“They learn the farming way of life, which is round the clock and far removed from their daily lives of TV, mobile phones and computers – they get none of that on our farms. They don’t need it, and we find that they don’t miss it. They interact with each other, sit down to meals together and support each other.”

“The children learn things linked with the National Curriculum, like maths, science, biology and history, and they also learn about themselves – recognising that they are people and citizens. By looking after animals they become responsible for another living being. Non-academic kids get the chance to shine and develop their leadership qualities.”

So what does a typical stay on the farm involve?

Lambing at Treginnis Iraf, Pembrokeshire

“Children come as a class with their teachers, and are provided with a carefully constructed list of jobs throughout their stay. They start work early, at 7:30am, and they could be in the dairy for milking and mucking out, or helping with a stock check of sheep, collecting eggs or mucking out donkeys, pigs and hens.”

“They get a cooked breakfast every day at 9am – something warm and hearty like bacon and eggs, pancakes or porridge. Then it’s off to do another job at 9:45am. They get some free time from 11:30 until the main meal of the day at 12:30pm. They eat very well - the farms have big kitchen gardens, so children always have fresh vegetables and meat. Most food is from farm to plate – which gives children a real appreciation of where food comes from.”

“Another job in the afternoon is followed by a light tea and then a final job at 6pm. It’s a busy day – closely following our learning by doing philosophy. The children actually love mud and rain and dirt and wind, and are physically worn out as they muck in together. We have lots of good role models on the farm to influence the children.”

But it’s not all hard work?

Donkey Walks at Nethercott, Devon

“Not at all. In the evening, children are treated to cocoa and cake and spend time with their teachers, taking part in talent shows, storytelling, reading in the library, or playing table football and ping pong. Once a week the children work with local artists and craftsmen, who come in and spend an afternoon teaching them skills likewillow weaving, making charcoal, carving and wire sculpture. We let the children experience using tools, making sure they do it properly and carefully.”

Tell us about your illustrious founder and the early days?

“Michael Morpurgo used to read to the children a lot, and the poet Ted Hughes was involved early on with his wife, Carol. Illustrator Quentin Blake was another who has worked with us, to help bring out the creative streak in children – you’ll see his lovely illustrations all over our website and in our marketing material.”

“Michael is still a trustee, an actively involved board member and a high-profile ambassador for the charity. We’re also incredibly lucky and honoured to have Princess Anne as our patron.”

Has the formula changed much over the years?

More Donkey Walks at Nethercott

“Not really. The model has lasted incredibly well. We experimented with different lengths of stay and group sizes early on, and found that a seven day stay, Friday to Friday, works best. We’ve moved with the times to incorporate healthy eating and   physical exercise, providing an alternative to convenience foods, obesity and sedentary TV lifestyles.”

And what plans for the future?

“We’re looking for a fourth farm in the north of England. Our existing farms have been fully booked for three years now, so there is a need for expansion. We’ve been talking to the National Trust and there are a few possibilities but nothing concrete yet. We have time to plan and wait for the right one.”

So who qualifies to come on a farm stay and how does it get organised?

“We prioritise our marketing at schools from inner cities and disadvantaged areas, but children can come from any town or city, any urban environment. Children always come with their school, so they should contact the farm they wish to visit for availability. We’re open all year round, and often winter is just as good as summer - what it lacks in sunshine it more than makes up for in terms of farm activities and events and all the animals are kept in their barns, so there is much more opportunity for interaction.”

If you’d like to make a donation to Farms for City Children, visit www.justgiving.com/helpfulholidays at any time or you can also make a contribution when you book a holiday through Helpful Holidays.

Helpful Holidays supports Farms for City Children…

We’re lucky enough to live and work in glorious Devon and many of our customers enjoy getting away from the hustle and bustle of city life to spend time in the beautiful West Country. We sincerely believe just being in the countryside is good for you. With that in mind, Helpful Holidays has again chosen to support Farms for City Children as its charity of the year. 

Farms for City Children was founded by children’s author Michael Morpurgo and his wife Clare at Nethercott Farm in Devon in 1976. 

The charity’s aim is to enrich the lives of children from urban areas, who may not know where their food comes from and have limited opportunities to get up close to animals, by giving them the chance to spend a week living and working on a real farm in the heart of the countryside. 

It’s an intense, ‘learning through doing’ experience of a different life and 75,000 children have taken part since it started.

The charity now has three working farms, including Nethercott, a huge Victorian manor house with beautiful grounds and amazing views towards Dartmoor. Whilst very full during term time, its house (sleeps 48) is available to our holidaymakers in the school holidays.

The three farms offer a warm, friendly environment, plentiful home cooking and comfortable accommodation, including classroom, library, quiet room and games room. 

The jobs on the farm are rotated so that everyone gets at least two goes at  activities such as feeding livestock, mucking out, grooming horses and donkeys, assisting at milking time and tending the kitchen gardens – as well as more seasonal tasks like apple-pressing and lambing! The children learn about the food chain, caring for animals and the land and the importance of teamwork; the overall experience has a heart-warming impact on their self-esteem and outlook on life.

You may have heard a lot about Michael Morpurgo recently - his book ‘War Horse’ has been the inspiration for both a successful West End play and a soon-to-be-released film directed by Steven Spielberg (filmed in part on Dartmoor). 

Morpurgo describes his own inspiration for the story when a young boy with a stammer visited Nethercott in 1978, and befriended a horse on the farm:

“He was talking to the horse, one to one, about what he had done on the farm that day. No stutter – words flowing out of him. I summoned his teachers and we hid in the vegetable garden to watch them. I was very, very moved. 

"The boy wasn't being judged or mocked. He trusted this creature. The horse wasn't understanding, but was listening. She knew she must not move away. She must stand there – because that is what friends do."

We hope you'll help us spread the word about this wonderful charity and the excellent work it does. We'll keep you updated on news from the farms and our fundraising efforts during 2012. 

If you’d like to make a donation, visit www.justgiving.com/helpfulholidays at any time or you can also make a contribution when you book a holiday through Helpful Holidays.
 

Helpful Holidays donates over £60,000 to charity...

We're delighted to announce that we are to donate more than £60,000 to a range of leading charities operating in and around the West Country.

The first four charities to benefit are the Devon Air Ambulance Trust, the Marine Conservation Society, Farms for City Children and the RNLI. Many other regional and national charities will also receive donations throughout the year. ShelterBox, the Cornish based charity famous for its delivery of aid boxes, has already received a donation of £1,000 for its Haiti appeal.

We raised the funds from the VAT saved during the recent ‘VAT holiday’. Rather than taking extra profit or discounting our already published prices, we donated the 2.5 % VAT cut to our charitable fund. Helpful Holidays General Manager, Moray Bowater, said, “The VAT reduction made such a small difference to the cost of an individual holiday but we book over 17,000 holiday cottage breaks each year so we knew those small amounts would soon add up. It seemed a golden opportunity to raise some cash for the charities being hit hard by the recession.”

Each year, Helpful Holidays adopts a charity and invites its holidaymakers to make donations when booking their holidays - this year it is the Devon Air Ambulance Trust. At the end of the year, we match the sum generated by our holidaymakers. In 2009, over £2,600 was donated to the RNLI.