About Us
Key Things You Might Like to Know About CHICKS...
"A CHICKS break showed me I can be whoever and whatever I wanna be..."
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Why we Exist
Our Child Care Team
Our Team of Supervisors
Our Retreats
Home Cooked Meals
Activities on Camp
Ongoing Support
CHICKS offers free week long respite breaks for underprivileged children from across the UK.
The children are referred to us by a professional body and so many of the children's backgrounds are heart breaking. Our team read every child's story and check that they meet the CHICKS criteria – that they will have no other opportunity of a break within the year. Many live in severe poverty, are being neglected, bullied, abused or live in care. We support many children who have been bereaved or are full time young carers baring the extraordinary responsibility of looking after parents or siblings. The one thing they all have in common is that without our support they would not get any respite from their home situations.
CHICKS hopes that through the provision of the respite breaks, children who often feel 'excluded' can feel 'included'. Maybe for the first time in their lives the children can feel cared for and valued. The children are able to enjoy activities and experiences that in their normal circumstances are unavailable to them.
- There are 175,000 young carers in the UK. 13,000 care for over fifty hours a week. (1)
- 4 million children - one in three - are currently living in poverty in the UK. (2) Approximately 46,700 children in the UK are known to be at risk of abuse right now. (3)
- 65,520 children were in the care of local authorities on 31st March 2011 (4)
- A large majority witness abuse: "In relationships where there is domestic violence, children witness about three-quarters of the abusive incidents." (5) This comes to a total of at least 750,000 children in the UK per year. (6)
As the economy struggles on the need for CHICKS respite breaks is even greater. We believe that by giving them free respite in the country we are investing in the children of our future, showing them there is more to life than what it has offered them so far.
Source
1. The Princess Royal Trust for Carers | www.carers.org/key-facts-about-carers
2. End Child Poverty | www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/
3. March 2011 NSPCC | www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/research/statistics/prevalence_and_incidence_of_child_abuse_and_neglect_wda48740.html
4. BAAF adoption and fostering | www.baaf.org.uk/res/statengland
5. Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2004
6. Department of Health, 2002
With the high adult-to-child ratio of 1:2 that we prides ourselves on, the children all benefit from plenty of support, care, attention and encouragement throughout the week.
In order to achieve this there are always three fully trained members of the CHICKS Supervisory team on every break. We also need eight volunteers – four men and four women to complete each camp. By aiming to help 1200 children this year, we will need more volunteers than ever before – 600 in total. It is an excellent experience and volunteers often come on camp time and time again.
The CHICKS Team are fully trained, experienced, and full of enthusiasm. Our volunteers are carefully selected, required to complete enhanced CRB checks and provide two references.
For some children, who have been let down by adults, it is important to gain trust and have a listening ear if they need it. Every child is valued and there is always someone to kick a football or read a book.
Kate Bastable - Being a supervisor is fantastic because we get to see kids gaining confidence, making new friends, trying new things, building up trust and overcoming fears.
Dan Jewson - I love the job because everything we do is totally focussed on making sure that children who deserve a break get the absolute best break they possibly can.
We have two stunning Retreats in the South West of England; our Coastal Retreat in Tywardreath, near Par, Cornwall and our Moorland Retreat in Brentor, Devon. Both take a maximum of 16 children at one time; 8 boys and 8 girls, within an 8-11 or 12-15 age range which ensures a friendly and supportive "family" atmosphere.
Both Retreats are set within their own large grounds with beautiful views over the surrounding countryside and lots of space to run around!
The large lounges have board games, puzzles and books and each Retreat's dining room doubles up as art and craft areas where we do clay modeling, face painting and other fun (and messy!) things.
Both retreats have play barns with Pool Tables, Air Hockey, Table Tennis, Giant Jenga, Chess and Connect 4. And we even have sunken trampolines, which are loved by children, staff and volunteers alike!
At our Moorland Retreat we even have an amazing disco room!
The boys have two bedrooms with four beds in each; the girls share a larger bedroom with eight beds and each room is decorated with fun cartoons - painted by the CHICKS Supervisors!
If you would like a tour of either Retreat, one of our team would be happy to help. Please contact Head Office on 01822 811020 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
We also provide the children with excellent home-cooked evening meals. We try to use fresh ingredients wherever possible, and there is always a good choice of different foods available. We will never force a child to eat anything they do not wish to eat, but we may try to tempt them into trying some of our home grown fruit and vegetables!
It is important for everybody on camp to make sure they eat something at every meal time – at CHICKS we are very active during the day and it is important to eat to keep up energy levels!
During their break children receive as much care, attention and support as possible, enjoying a wealth of experiences from pony trekking and rock climbing, to building sand castles and flying kites. It is also a great opportunity to make new and long-lasting friendships. All activities are "challenge by choice" and no child is ever forced to take part, although they will be encouraged and supported.
CHICKS want the children to learn that fun does not have to be expensive, so a lot of time is spent playing team games, reading books, drawing and doing puzzles. The activities take into consideration the children's ages, the time of year and, of course, the weather!
A week at our Moorland Retreat...
Monday time to arrive, settle in and play!
Tuesday Horse riding and team games
Wednesday Swimming and climbing
Thursday A day out at an adventure park... fun, fun, fun
Friday Home time, but not before presentations and Memory Bags
A week at out Coastal Retreat...
Monday time to arrive, settle in and play!
Tuesday A day out at a leisure park
Wednesday Climbing and swimming
Thursday Horse riding and team games
Friday Home time, but not before presentations and Memory Bags
Depending on the time of year, other activities might include coasteering, assault courses, sailing, cycling, Moorland walking, high ropes courses, bowling, Quasar, cinema or other seasonal visits (e.g. circus).
Throughout all our breaks, emphasis is on providing a fun and friendly atmosphere.
Every child leaves a CHICKS camp with hundreds of happy memories and new skills; but the support does not end there...
Every child goes home with a Memory Bag full of photos from their break – these photos can sometimes be the only ones the child has and they are truly treasured!
They also leave with treats and most importantly a freepost envelope so they can write to the people that they met on camp. Every child's letter is always responded to with a hand written letter and another freepost envelope; this contact can go on as long as the child wants it and can sometimes be the only support and listening ear the child has.
Every child that visits CHICKS within that year also receives a monthly newsletter, a birthday card, and a card and present at Christmas; this can often be the only gift the child receives and the thank you letters that come flooding in over January truly show how much this means to the children.
One of the key benefits the children receive from going on a CHICKS break is the valuable and positive 'time out' they can enjoy, away from the stresses of their day-to-day lives. The fun-packed days boost the children's confidence and self esteem and they return home happier, with an improved sense of self worth and with some really positive childhood memories.
CHICKS organises return visits for as many children as possible so long as they still meet the criteria. The main one being that the child will not have another break in that year.
CHICKS want children to return home knowing that someone cares, someone understands, someone thinks their life is worth living and someone is there, 'holding their hand' as a trusted friend. The breaks are fun, friendly, challenging, and really do make a difference. We receive letters from CHICKS children who are now grown adults saying how CHICKS changed their lives.
For the children we help, a CHICKS respite break imparts new confidence, nurtures self-esteem and sparks new motivation and enthusiasm for life.
Throughout May we will be running our Change for CHICKS campaign. We're asking all our supporters to encourage their friends, family and colleagues to donate their small change to CHICKS. More...
