• Article |
• Discussion |
• View source |
• History

As a child in the 1950s, Marilyn Clampitt loved family holidays at Skegness. So when she celebrated her 60th birthday and 40th wedding anniversary recently, she asked family and friends to donate cash towards the Derbyshire Children's Holiday Centre in Skegness, which gives youngsters a taste of the same seaside fun she enjoyed. Marylin explains why the centre is so important.

As we approached the house, the frontage reminded me of my old doctor's surgery on Kedleston Road (now the Polish Club). It looked grey, large and forbidding.

However, once inside, it was a different story. The door was opened to us by two smiling ladies, one being Ali the manager and the other being Kerrie, the deputy manager.

Stepping inside, I could see that the drab exterior was offset by the friendly interior. The large hall, with its bright, green-painted walls, was adorned with photographs of past guests. At the end of the hall stood a large staircase which guests must have run up and down thousands of times, over the years.

No, this was not a hotel, though it must have seemed like it to the hundreds of children who have stayed there.

The house we were visiting was the Derbyshire Children's Holiday Centre in Skegness.

My husband, Mike, and I were there to present the home with a cheque for £640 that was kindly donated by our friends for my 60th birthday and 40th wedding anniversary at our belated party on October 6.

We were shown round the centre by Holly, one of the staff. We could not believe the brightness, lightness and spaciousness of the bedrooms. Oh, the tales that must have been told in those rooms over the years.

Then there was the large gym where children can work off their energy.

There was no such thing in the early years, of course. It was added later on.

The TV/games room was also spacious for the children to play and lounge about in, especially on a rainy day. There were boxes of toys, keyboards, pool and football tables, there for the residents' use with a TV in a corner. And through the arched doorway, were large, comfy settees to lounge on.

As a child in the West End in the 1950s, I was fortunate to have a holiday every year with my three sisters, Susan, Wendy and Beryl.

My mam, Gladys Yeomans, and my dad, Horace, always managed to give us girls a good holiday, either at Ingoldmells, Chapel St Leonards or Anderby Creek.

Dad never went with us but would trudge along to Friargate station with us from our home in Nuns Street, carrying our cases. He would stay to wave us off until the train disappeared from sight.

With five girls in the house, you could not blame dad for wanting a week of peace and quiet.

We had some great holidays at Skeggy as children. Sadly, a lot of our friends did not have holidays due to a shortage of money in some households.

This is where the Skegness centre filled a need for hundreds of children over the years in Derbyshire. It was then known to Derby kids as "Syke's Home".

On advice from schools, doctors, social workers and various children's support groups, many children were able to enjoy their first holiday. Some had never seen the sea until then.

Even today, there are still children who have never been on holiday. In my job, working with children, I'm always fascinated by the kids that tell me they've been to Florida, Turkey, Spain, Malta etc, while there are other children who have never even been up the road (so to speak) to Skegness. Those faraway places were something we kids of the 50s could only read about.

But Skegness was enough for us. Who needed those exotic places when we had the sandy beaches of Skeggy, with its donkeys, amusement arcades and candy floss?

A lot of my friends did not want to go to the holiday home, crying at the thought of leaving their families.

But, after they had been, it was a different story. When they came home, they were full of tales about the things they had done and where they had been taken.

The pleasures may have been simple in those days compared with what children have today - they painted, played dominoes and snakes and ladders etc - but they all enjoyed it and some actually cried when it was time to go home.

Thankfully, over the years, this children's centre has managed to continue to give youngsters a much-needed holiday. But, sadly, the funds raised to maintain it are not sufficient to keep it going for longer than five days, Monday to Friday - which is where donations come in.

What we and our friends donated was just a small drop in the ocean compared with what is needed to help run the centre.

So, may I implore You and Yesterday readers that, if anyone wants to donate to a worthy charity, please consider the Derbyshire Children's Centre at Skegness.

If it were not for this place in the pre-war and post-war years, many, many children, including some of my friends, would never have had a holiday.

Hopefully this centre will flourish for many more years, to give local youngsters a holiday.

FEEDBACK

Did you enjoy this article? If so, why not comment on it? Perhaps you disagree with something in it, or you know something the writer doesn't and can add some extra facts. You may want to ask a question about this article. Making a contribution is easy - either click 'edit' to insert more information or 'discussion' and then 'add comment.' This is your site. Please feel free to use it to the full and share your memories, thoughts and knowledge about Derbyshire with others.

If there is no 'edit' link showing it means the article has either previously been published in the Derby Evening Telegraph, or it has been protected by the site administrator and cannot be edited.'

County:  Derbyshire

Return to You_and_Yesterday