A disabled fundraiser aims to raise £3,500 for a charity which fell victim to a cruel con.
Stephen Collins, 66, who has cerebral palsy and walks with a frame, has done several fundraisers for Ruddi’s Retreat which provides free caravan breaks for families with children battling serious illnesses such as cancer, have life-limiting conditions or have suffered bereavement.
It has four caravans on the Primrose Valley Holiday Park near Filey with a fifth at Marton Mere Holiday Village in Blackpool.
But it turns out that one family has lied and used aliases to get eight free holidays they had no right to have.
Now Stephen aims to raise £3,500 by walking from his home in Longwood to Greenhead Park at the end of October, then around the park eight times — one lap for each of the eight holidays that have been lost. It will take him many hours as each step can be a struggle.
“Once I have completed the eight laps I will hopefully walk all the way home again,’’ he said. “Walking can be difficult and painful for me but I have never let that stop me from doing what I can to help others.
“This will be a huge challenge for me but knowing that every step could help give a family the holiday they desperately need will give me the motivation to keep going.
“Every donation, no matter how small, will help Ruddi’s Retreat replace these eight holidays and put smiles back on the faces of families who are going through an incredibly difficult time.
“Together, we can turn something terrible into something positive and help give these families the precious memories they deserve.’’
Stephen – who has previously walked from Slaithwaite to Castle Hill and from Emley Moor mast to Slaithwaite to raise thousands of pounds for Ruddi’s Retreat – added: “I don’t know how that family which conned Ruddi’s could have sat there enjoying their free holidays they didn’t qualify for or deserve. I think it’s horrible.’’
Ruddi’s Retreat founder Ali Waterworth revealed recently the charity had discovered that a single family used up to 10 different aliases to get the eight free holidays over two years.
Ali said: “They lied to our team, claiming that children had lost their parents and siblings. They completely abused our good nature and our mission.’’
She said this it totally opposite to the fantastic fundraising Stephen has done and continues to do for Ruddi’s Retreat.
“Stephen is just brilliant,’’ she said. “He’s taken the charity to his heart and I cannot put into words how grateful I am. What an epic way to show there are still a lot of good people in the world.’’
Ruddi’s Retreat, which is based in Slaithwaite, has now changed its procedures to ensure this can’t happen again.
To protect the charity and ensure the holidays only go to people who genuinely need them they will now ask for proof of bereavement during the application process and all applications for a holiday due to the loss of a parent or child will require a letter of support from a doctor, school or social worker, along with a copy of the death certificate.
In cases where a child is ill the charity will now need a letter proving diagnosis from the hospital where they are being treated.
Ali added: “We are so deeply sorry to have to do this. We do not want to ask for such personal and sacred documents and we did not come to this decision lightly.
“However, this is the only way we can safely carry on gifting holidays to genuine, grieving families. We simply cannot afford to give holidays away to people who don’t actually need or qualify for them.’’
To support Stephen’s appeal through JustGiving click here
Written by ANDY HIRST who runs his own Yorkshire freelance journalism agency AH! PR (https://ah-pr.com/) specialising in press releases, blogging, website content, copywriting and ghost-writing autobiographies.
