Kids’ Village, the UK’s first respite holiday village for children with critical illnesses and their families to stay, has officially broken ground at our Wychnor site near Lichfield. This milestone marks a significant step in the Kids’ Village mission to provide critically ill children and their families with a much-needed, free of charge, magical break in the beautiful Staffordshire countryside.
Kids’ Village is inspired by Lichfield-born Sam Fletcher-Goodwin, who, over 20 years ago, at the age of nine was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer known as Rhabdomyosarcoma.
Following her recovery, Sam and her family had the opportunity to visit the Give Kids The World Village resort in Florida and, since then, it has been Sam’s dream to create a similar destination for critically ill children in the UK.
Now, the ambitious national charity is on a mission to turn Sam’s vision into a reality by raising £5m to build the resort, comprising 10 four-bedroom lodges and a central facility known as ‘The Hive’.
First Phase of Construction Begins
The first phase of work underway will be to build a single-story site office, viewing area, and small car park. This site office will become the Kids’ Village team base and a space where Kids’ Village will be able to invite existing and prospective funders and partners to view the site and hear more about Kids’ Village and its plans. This site office will become the management accommodation once Kids’ Village is open.
Kids’ Village Chairman Doug Wright MBE said,
This is a significant milestone and exciting day for Kids’ Village. We have been able to break ground and start this pre-phase of building works as a direct result of the support and donations received this year and look forward to welcoming funders up to site in early 2025. While we can’t provide definitive timeframes for the full build, as this is dependent on the fundraising capital appeal, our hope is that we can proceed to the full building works starting as soon as possible.
Sam Fletcher-Goodwin, Co-Founder of Kids’ Village, expressed her excitement, saying,
The idea to build Kids’ Village began nearly 20 years ago, so to see work beginning is incredibly exciting for both me and my family. After having cancer and an uncertain future as a child, I’m so grateful to be healthy now and that drives me to help children going through similar situations as me. The mission is to give children with critical illness and their families hope, countryside escape and the chance to make precious memories in a safe, fun and understanding environment. We are so grateful for all of the support and generosity we’ve been shown up until this point and we can’t wait to see our vision come to life.
For more information or to support Kids’ Village, please visit kidsvillage.org.uk or email info@kidsvillage.org.uk
