Holiday lodge will offer sanctuary for

And seeing the difference that small gesture made to so many, they were keen to turn it into something more.

Denise said: “The support from everyone has been incredible.

“Our dream was to be able to raise the money to upgrade the holiday home to a stunning lodge – and I’m excited that, with the donations and fundraising, we’ve managed to fulfil this.”

The lodge at Ribby Hall, in Lytham St Annes, Lancs, was also designed to be fully wheelchair accessible, allowing the Trust to extend its mission to families unable to use the caravan.

Denise added: “I can’t thank everyone enough, it’s been a very emotional 12 months. Being handed the keys this week has filled me with pride and love.”

TV presenter Sir Trevor Mcdonald has backed the family – and helped with their fundraising efforts at a starstudded black tie ball in March.

He has also made an ITV documentary to mark the 25th anniversary of James’s killing.

Sir Trevor said: “I’m over the moon that Denise and Stuart have managed to reach their target and obtain their dream lodge in James’s memory.

“They do so much great work with the James Bulger Memorial Trust – it’s really special they do so much for other people.”

James’s killers Jon Venables and Robert Thompson were only ten years old when they became the country’s youngest murderers for 250 years. They took little James’s hand and led him away from a busy shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside, while Denise was in a butcher’s shop.

They walked him for two and half miles to a railway line, where they tortured, beat and sexually assaulted him.

Venables and Thompson then lay him across railway tracks, hoping he would be hit by a train to make the murder look like an accident. His body was discovered two days later.

In January this year, Denise released I Let Him Go, a book detailing her anguish since James was taken.

Writing about the day of his murder, she said: “Getting my purse out to buy two pork chops for tea was the last thing I did before my world imploded for ever. I went into the butcher’s holding my little boy’s hand, making one final stop before heading home.

“I left without James’s hand in mine. It was one of those moments where the world feels like it is turning in slow motion. I remember a voice in my head. ‘Not James. Not my beautiful boy.’ This couldn’t be happening to me, I didn’t ever let him out of my sight.” In February Denise led calls for a public inquiry into James’s death, and the decision to release Venables and Thompson from prison. But despite a 200,000-strong petition it was rejected by justice chiefs, who ruled an inquiry was not necessary. Venables and Thompson were released after serving eight years in youth prisons. Both were given new identities to protect them from reprisals. Robert Thompson has not reoffended since and is believed to have settled down to a normal life with a long-term partner. But Jon Venables has faced a number of further court cases since his conviction, using up almost £260,000 in legal aid. He has been repeatedly sent back to prison over child porn. His £259,585 legal aid covered