Charity has been helping our youngsters since 1891
THE holiday centre was first thought of in 1891 when Harry Sykes, a commercial traveller and lay preacher at St Werburgh’s Church in Derby, and his friend Arnold, son of Sir Henry Howe Bemrose, were walking through the West End of Derby, a greatly deprived area.
They met a group of young boys and with their parents’ permission arranged to take them on a day trip to Skegness.
In 1892, a terraced house was rented in Skegness High Street to cater for the growing number of children taken on annual holidays. Subsequently a doublefronted house was taken on Roman Bank and in this second year, 223 children enjoyed a week’s holiday.
Move forward four years, and in 1896 Sir Henry Howe Bemrose and a group of Derby worthies raised funds to purchase land in Skegness from the Earl of Scarbrough, to build the centre at 1 Scarborough Avenue, which
was opened in 1896.
In 1921, to resolve a poor financial position annual Buttercup Flag Days were inaugurated, which with the annual bazaar yielded the core of funding that made the centre viable. These events lasted until the outbreak of the Second World War.
In 1995, Derbyshire County Council axed its funding programme, forcing the centre to close. But the creation of a fundraising team in 1997 and successful submissions to the National Lottery and other grant-making organisations led to the centre reopening in 1998. A massive campaign by the Derby Telegraph also raised thousands of pounds.
The charity was given the Queen’s Award for the Voluntary Sector in 2015 and in 2016, the 125th anniversary was celebrated across the county and HRH Princess Anne visited the centre to unveil a plaque recording the occasion.