Center Parcs

In March 2010 we hosted our 3rd Annual Ball. During the evening we showed our 2010 Lily Foundation video presentation and one of our guests was very moved and touched by the significance of the lasting memories the families have. This person approached us after our ball and offered us significant funds to be specifically spent on holidays for families afflicted by Mitochondrial Disease.  The funding for year 1 is £20,000. We were of course totally taken aback by this offer and delighted to be able to offer families the opportunity to spend time together.

The Lily Foundation approached Center Parcs about this funding and talks progressed with regards to forming a partnership between The Lily Foundation and Center Parcs. Being a small charity, and aware of all the good work that Center Parcs currently does with charities, we were totally surprised when the company contacted us to say that it would love to get involved with the work that we do and was keen to support The Lily Foundation.

Simon Kay The PR manager for Centerparcs states:

"We are delighted to be working with The Lily Foundation this year, the
charity works hard to help fund gene testing, training of specialised
medical staff and help to provide accommodation near hospitals for families
so they can stay near their children whilst they are receiving treatment.
This is such a good cause and we felt that we could help by providing
families with a much-needed respite break during what is a very difficult
time. The Center Parcs experience is about families spending quality time
together and creating memorable moments, so when we heard about an
opportunity to help The Lily Foundation provide breaks for these families
during the most stressful times, we were keen to be involved and help in
some way.

"Center Parcs are very pleased to be working with The Lily Foundation and
hope that this new relationship will benefit the families with which the
charity are involved."

The support that Center Parcs has offered us has meant that we can extend the holidays that we can offer to more families living with the challenges of Mitochondrial Disease.  But none of this would have been possible without the insight and support of the individual who has so generously invested into this project.

Below are some thank yous from families who have visited Center Parcs:

Thank you from Caroline and Dave Camis:

We were extremely touched and very much appreciated the chance for a long weekend at Centre Parcs at Elveden Forest. We went with Oliver our eldest son (age 6), Jasmine (3), Charlie (20 months) who suffers from Mitochondrial disease and George (6 months).

We had visited Centre Parcs last year and Oliver and Jasmine both remembered how much fun it was there, so they were both eager to arrive, hire the bikes and find our lodge. Dave hired a trailer for the back of his bike to tow Jasmine, Charlie and George and I had a trailer towing the double buggy. Charlie loved the trailer experience and would giggle every time Dave went faster on his bike.

Each day we took the children swimming. Charlie was happy crawling and splashing in the shallow pool, while Oliver and Jasmine loved the larger pool and water slides.

Oliver and Jasmine loved all the activities on offer such as tennis, bowling, table tennis, climbing walls, whilst Charlie was at his happiest being able to explore the play centres and parks and watching all the wildlife visit our patio for food.

In the evening we were able to arrange a babysitter for Charlie and George enabling us to go back out for an evening meal and spend some more quality time with the older two children. So much of our time is normally taken up with doctors’ appointments and therapists visiting the house for Charlie, it was fantastic for once it was about all of us as a family doing normal family activities and involving all the children together.

We explained to Oliver on the drive there, that if it wasn't for Charlie having this disease and a very generous sponsor, we wouldn't be going on holiday and he replied by saying how lucky we were to have Charlie "sick", which did make us laugh!!!

Centre Parcs provided us with a beautiful and picturesque environment, perfect for a family break where we all had a wonderful time and have special memories to take away forever with our special holiday with Charlie.

Thank you

Dave, Caroline, Oliver, Jasmine, Charlie and George

Thank you from Laura, Steve and Oliver Upstone

Having lost their eldest daughter Ellie to a Mitochondrial Disease, Laura, Steve and their little boy Oliver enjoyed a long weekend together at Evelden Forest."

Thank you from Caroline, Niki and Ben

Oliver Gratell lost his battle to Mitochondrial Disease aged just 7 weeks in July last year. The family are truly inspirational and have committed the past year to raising funds for The Lily Foundation, by taking part in sponsored runs, half marathons and sponsored goals scored! The three of them enjoyed a Center Parcs break spending time together before the arrival of twin boys.  Congratulations!

"A big thank you for giving us the opportunity to visit Center Parcs.  We really, really enjoyed our break there recently, Niki and Ben did tonnes of physical activities and I spent alot of time in the pool (the babies seemed to enjoy that)."

Gemma, Andrew, Paige and Freya

Freya is two years old and suffers from Mitochondrial Disease. They have just come back from a break in Center Parcs:

"Just on our way home from centerparcs, we had a fantastic time! Thank you very much :)  Freya loved swimming with her sisters and we got some great photos!"  We will put up the photos when we received them.