JM of London
JM and her husband had 3 children one of whom is T who is autistic.
JM is the full time carer for T and her husband had a good job but they had little money to spare and certainly nothing for a holiday break.
They were offered a week-long farm cottage holiday in the Lake District by a Northern-based charity that has since "ceased to exist".
They drove 7 hours to get there only to find that the cottage had been double-booked by that charity’s administrator.
Instead, the on-site caretaker offered them a friend’s caravan that was a few paces from a busy working railway line!
Unable to reach the administrator, they stayed overnight in a local pub that served no food - so they went hungry that night.
The next day, the administrator offered an alternative cottage which sounded great - she said it was definitely available - but it proved to be occupied!
She then suggested a bungalow nearby but told the family that the owners would not allow them to view it first - they either wanted it or they did not!
By now the family had had enough - T was kicking off and they felt they had no alternative but to drive the 7 hours back home.
The administrator suggested that a weekend away, closer to home later that week, might be more suitable and asked them for possibilities.
They suggested Centerparcs as it gives the open spaces needed by T and the administrator said she’d check availability with Centerparcs.
She claimed that they had no availability but, sensing blarney, JM asked if she could call them herself in the hope of persuading them.
The administrator then said that her trustees might not be willing to meet the cost of £600 for a long weekend - in spite of previously stating that the original cottage would have cost £700 - had it been available!
Under pressure to check this out, from the family who by now were more than fed up, she purported to call her chair of trustees who reportedly refused to sanction this cost.
She said the best the charity could do was to pay the family’s petrol costs to a Centreparcs - if they paid for the weekend break themselves!
They agreed to reimburse JM her petrol costs for the abortive trip to the Lakes but, 2 weeks after the administrator said she'd posted the cheque, JM was still awaiting it's arrival. It took more than 6 weeks to arrive!
We arranged a long weekend break at Centerparcs, and met the £600, within days of receiving their request for help.
Tel.01604 497606 : Fax.01604 570720