The travel group has also made a £50,000 donation to the charity to help offset any impact of the pandemic from holiday booking donations, and plans to do the same again this year.
The donations have helped hundreds of vulnerable children – more than 760 in total – take a break from their everyday lives, many of whom are dealing with serious challenges such as bereavement, abuse, bullying, poverty or being a carer for loved ones.
The charity offers children a mix of residential stays and day trips where they can escape their worries, learn new skills and make new friends. The breaks also focus on improving physical and mental wellbeing, learning about the environment and tackling food poverty with a range of activities and healthy nutritious meals.
To further increase donations, Co-op Holidays – which includes the Personal Travel Agents and the Midcounties Co-op Travel Consortium – is encouraging customers to give a further £1 per holiday booking, and donate any unused foreign currency via collection boxes stationed in the 74 Your Co-op Travel branches.
The Midcounties Co-operatives’ travel and leisure chief Sara Dunham said: “As a travel business, we recognise how important a break can be for your mental health, so it’s great to be able provide these getaways for young people who face challenging situations every day.
“Not only that, but as part of a co-operative, supporting our local communities is at the heart of everything we do. We’re so proud to be able to support Go Beyond thanks to the help of our holidaymakers and it’s great to see first-hand how we’re helping young people create ‘forever moments’, grow in confidence and make new friends.”
