Kentish Express Ashford & District
Family’s first trip abroad thanks to competition win
A family have gone abroad together for the first time, thanks to the KM Group.
The Davies family won a holiday to Portugal in our competition and it was the first time dad Matt Davies had left Britain in 29 years.
Partner Amy Ford hadn’t gone away for 16 years and this was the first time for their two young children, Oakley and Indiana Davies.
None of them had passports until the trip – work commitments had kept them at home all this time.
Mr Davies, of Wells Close, New Romney, said: “It was a wonderful holiday and it would have been very expensive so I’m very grateful to the KM Group.
“The kids were delighted and they loved the sea. But I now have to be back at work.”
The f amily had entered through our website, KentOnline, to win the competition marking James Villa Holidays’ 30th anniversary.
They spent seven days in the Algarve, with free flights and accommodation, returning on August 17.
‘It was a wonderful holiday and it would have been very expensive so I’m very grateful to the KM Group’
It turned out to be a birthday treat for both kids. Indiana turned four on August 8, just a couple of days before they travelled out, and Oakley turned nine just last Tuesday .
Mr Davies, 42, said: “The food was great, we were under clear blue sky, the weather was hot and it was a nice break.
“But I’ve no plans to go abroad again. I haven’t caught the travel bug. I’m not a beach holiday person and I can’t sit around for long.
“Besides, I have to keep working to pay the mortgage and provide for my family.”
Mr Davies is a self-employed furniture maker so is only paid for what he produces with no staff benefits such as sickness or holiday pay.
He is committed to keeping on top of his mortgage, workshop rent and bills for both premises.
His hours are flexible and once he worked for four weeks without a day off, finishing at 1.40am on Christmas Day to complete an order deadline and delivering on Boxing Day.
He moved around frequently as a child as his father was in the army, but the last time he went abroad was for a holiday to Tunisia with his parents and sister when he was 13.
Miss Ford, 32, who works as a part-time baker at Sainsbury’s in New Romney, last went abroad when she was 16.
Mr Davies said: “I can’t even remember the last time we had a passport.”