Kids’ holiday charity welcomes new chair

Derby Kids’ Camp, a charity that gives free holidays to hundreds of Derbyshire children each year, has welcomed a new chair.

Sarah Armitage MBE, who has been recognised by the honours system for her many years of voluntary work in schools, has taken up the role.

Sarah, formerly chair of trustees at Embark Federation, is taking over from Chris Edwards, who has now become president.

Derby Kids’ Camp provides a week’s holiday in the Derbyshire countryside for children aged eight to 11 who are nominated through their school if it is felt they would benefit from the experience.

Children who go to Derby Kids’ Camp face a range of challenges, which could include financial hardship, being a young carer, living in a single parent family in need of respite, recent bereavement or family break up.

The charity has been going for 53 years, and Chris has been involved for around 30 of those, including 18 as chair.

He said: “I’ve had an incredible time building Derby Kids’ Camp so far and Sarah is the ideal candidate to take us to the next level.

“I’m really excited to have somebody who’s got such experience and professionalism take on this role.”

Sarah said she had first become aware of the work of Derby Kids’ Camp through her involvement as chair of trustees for Embark, whose schools across Derbyshire nominate children to attend.

She said volunteering at the camp had been a wonderful experience and she was looking forward to becoming more involved.

She said: “It was amazing, absolutely fantastic. I think there is something very special about Derby Kids’ Camp in terms its inclusivity and warm welcome – I hope to inspire more people to get involved.

“The children get an amazing variety of activities. It’s all screen free too which is brilliant. They just don’t think about screens at all for a week.

“It’s such a great environment for them to be out in the countryside. They get taken on two fairly long walks and you can hear them reach a brow of a hill and say: ‘Wow, you can see for miles!’ That’s priceless.”

Sarah said she was looking forward to using her decades of volunteer experience helping schools with their governance, along with her professional skills running a leadership coaching business, to take Derby Kids’ Camp to the next level.

She said: “I feel very honoured and privileged to take on the role. Chris leaves huge shoes to fill.

“My vision for the charity is to widen and deepen its impact and really strengthen the foundations of its support base to make Derby Kids’ Camp sustainable in the long term.

“Much of that will be about fundraising and attracting even more corporate supporters who do so much to boost the charity.”

Derby Kids’ Camp has signed up 160 volunteers so far this year, but more are still needed to make this year’s event run.

Corporate supporters who might be able to lend a hand setting up the camp and hold fundraising events are also warmly welcomed.

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