7:00pm Sunday 2nd November 2008
By Joanna Codd
EMMA is eight. Her father is dead, her mother a drug addict. The family home was set on fire and she is in care.
Jason is 12. When his parents separated, he lived with his mother, but she had developed a crack cocaine habit. After witnessing some frightening incidents, he and his brother went to live with their father.
The family struggled to survive on benefits. The boys rebelled and Jason was taken into care. He became withdrawn and kept running away.
Although allowed to go back to live with his dad, he is still scarred by his experiences.
Greg, nine, no longer has any contact with his violent father. He wants to be a policeman when he grows up – so he can arrest him.
When he is told off for hitting his sisters, Greg says he can do it because he saw his father hitting his mother. He has no real friends and very low self-esteem.
You might think such stories come from tough inner cities, yet all three children are local.
All have been helped by a charity called Chicks (Country Holidays for Inner City Kids), which gives around 800 deprived children a year a break from their troubles. More than a fifth come from the South West.
During Emma’s stay at the retreat, she abseiled, swam and played, making friends.
Chicks also gave Jason some much-needed care, attention and support. He began to join in with the other children as they climbed, swam and played.
Greg played sports and games, making friends for the first time. The charity is still in touch with him and hopes to get him some counselling.
Ken Cherrett, of Christchurch, is one of 10 trustees of the charity. His background is in banking and financial services and he has two children and three grandchildren of his own.
“What attracted me was that although Chicks is a national charity, it is still small, with an ethos of really caring for the children, not just when they come on respite breaks, but also sending them birthday and Christmas cards and giving them reply-paid envelopes so they can write back when they have problems,” he explained.
Referrals are made through Social Services, doctors, churches and other charities.
“We now have a team of 25 full- timers and they do such marvellous work. I have heard some horrendous stories. The children all come from a background in which they wouldn’t get a holiday at all,” said Mr Cherrett.
“These children are so deprived that they don’t get Christmas presents. It’s really heart-wrenching to get a letter saying ‘Your present is the only one I’ve had’.
“People still think of poverty as in big cities. If you say there can be abject poverty in Poole and Bournemouth, they’re always surprised.
“When the children arrive, 90 to 95 per cent of them have behavioural problems. They are not used to people reacting positively to them.
“The bonding that goes on is one of the major factors in improving their self-esteem. They realise there is another way to live. It’s life-changing.”
Some of the children have gone on to become volunteers.
On a typical six-day break, there are 14 children to seven adult carers and four volunteers. When the charity started 16 years ago, the holidays were under canvas, but are now in one of two centres in Devon and Cornwall.
Chicks relies on sponsorship and donations to raise the £1.4 million a year it needs to continue its work.
Its Make a Memory – Fly a Kite campaign, sponsored by Wrigleys, encourages individuals, schools, community groups and companies to buy Chicks kites and get together to fly them.
The kites are £5.99 each, plus postage and packaging, from branches of Mountain Warehouse (the nearest are at Street, Swindon or Portsmouth); online from chicks.org.uk; or by ringing 0845 277 0120.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.thisisdorset.net