Impact
For many families holidays are out of reach. Glasgow remains the most deprived city and local authority area in Scotland. Almost half (47.3%) of Glasgow’s residents - 283,000 people - reside in the 20% of most deprived areas in Scotland;
In any one year we help over 200 families, more than 500 children and young people and over 350 adult parents/carers who all enjoy a break through the holiday scheme. We support a range of children and families who otherwise would not get the opportunity of a holiday. Recent annual figures show that we enabled 566 children and young people to get a break, many of the children had a disability, others were impacted by domestic violence. In all cases, the children and families were impacted by financial and social disadvantage. Please see here our performance and feedback summary 2023.
Read our latest impact report here: GCHS Impact Report
testimony 1
An 11 year old girl went on her first holiday. She had a fabulous holiday. She loved cooking especially making home-made pizza. She also enjoyed going swimming, to the beach and eating out. She had ‘lots of fun and loads of adventures’.
testimony 2
Wemyss Bay Holiday Park – feedback from mum Amy It is so nice to be able give back in this small way after what the scheme has done for our family. A little bit of background about us. I have 3 boys and 2 of them are on the autism spectrum. My eldest has Asperger’s syndrome and my six year old, sadly, had a very serious regression when he was two years old and lost all his language and his ability to understand and communicate with us. Since then our life has been a whirlwind of damage limitation, coping strategies, therapies, hospital appointments and stress. Our boy is an amazing wee person and I consider myself a very lucky mum but the stress from his behaviours has been monumental for me and my older boys. This year especially has been so hard for us, we have been struggling to cope and felt like we were being let down by everyone who was meant to be supporting us and then we were offered a holiday by your scheme. It was like a sudden ray of light in amongst all the chaos. All of a sudden someone was looking after us, taking care of us with this lovely, kind and generous offer of a break, in a gorgeous big caravan with some of the loveliest views we have ever seen! We went on lovely walks, we had ice cream and chips in Largs. We were so lucky with the weather. We took the wee boy swimming which he loved and the big boys went to the entertainment every night to ‘chat’ to girls and got some hilarious and savage knock backs. It was an amazing break, we had a fantastic and restful time and even found out that we’re pure geeks and love a jigsaw! We can’t thank you enough for looking after us and giving us the gift of this holiday. It has meant the world of difference to our wee exhausted gang. We feel looked after and rested and far more able to cope with our difficult times.
We are so grateful for and will never forget your kindness. Love from, Amy and the boys
testimony 3
Feedback from young people who used our caravans for activity based breaks confirmed the benefit of a few days away in a different environment. There is a focus on group activities, outdoor opportunities and the opportunity to build positive relationships. It helps to develop and enhance life skills such as being able to organise and plan for themselves.
Read about our accomplishments in this Evening Times article:
https://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/17357946.glasgow-holiday-charity-still-going-strong-at-60