Breathe On UK awarded £15,000 by BBC Children in Need

Breathe On UK, based in Dorset are delighted to announce that BBC Children in Need have awarded them a grant of £15,000 over 1 year. This grant will fund five bespoke holistic holidays at Centre Parcs at either Longleat or Sherwood Forest and will continue to help change the lives of disadvantaged children and young people across the UK.

Breathe On UK is one of many projects in the UK who have received a grant in the first of four rounds made possible by the generous support of the public in 2008, which amounted to a record breaking Appeal Night total of £20,991,216! Breathe On UK would like thank the thousands of donors, fundraisers and organisations who ‘did something different’ and contributed to the campaign!

Breathe On UK has designed five bespoke holidays for children on long term ventilation or are oxygen dependent. These holidays will take place at one of two Centre Parcs venues, either Longleat or Sherwood Forest. This will provide the children with a wonderful experience they otherwise would be unable to have due to their complex medical needs. As well this may be the only holiday of this type which they will be able to enjoy within the family unit. Enjoying activities as a family unit will undoubtedly enhance the relationship with not only the parents but also the child's siblings. This holiday will allow the disadvantaged child to be a child and not a patient. This family holiday experience is only possible with the support of Children in Need.

Victoria Townsend, CEO of Breathe On UK states "We feels empowered by this donation from Children in Need. We appreciate that our children have finally been recognised and their needs addressed. Our children are being given the opportunity of having a family holiday - something impossible without this grant. I hope they will gain a sense of achievement and that the family will be strengthened by this experience."

David Ramsden, Chief Executive of BBC Children in Need, said “Our grants are made possible by the amazing generosity of the public. They make it possible for us to help such great projects as [project name] continue to help change young lives for the better.”

Since November, the BBC charity has received thousands of applications for funding. These are rigorously assessed and considered in the months leading up to April by eight committees who pass on their recommendations to the Trustees of the charity. All grants go to projects working with children and young people who may be affected by homelessness, neglect, abuse or poverty, or those who have encountered serious illness, disabilities and psychological disorders.