Holiday village for ill children is 'quite unique'

A holiday village which aims to provide a sanctuary for critically ill children and their families is being planned.

The Kids Village charity aims to provide free of charge respite holidays on land donated by a farming family near Lichfield. It hopes to support more than 4,000 people a year.

Aston University in Birmingham said it would donate £200,000 to the charity's 30-acre site in Wychnor.

It praised its aim of providing "a sanctuary where vulnerable families can create precious memories together during the most challenging times of their lives". It also said the scheme was "quite unique" for the UK.

The charity was founded by the Fletcher family who said they know the "pain and worry" of having a child with a life-threatening illness after daughter Sam was diagnosed with cancer aged nine.

Sam Fletcher-Goodwin, now 31 and a presenter and producer, helped secure planning permission for the site inspired by her family's visit to Give Kids the World Village (GKTW) in Florida about 20 years ago.

Students from the university's Design Factory will also design one of the village's 10 lodges, which will be called Aston Lodge.

The project fitted the university's purpose of serving the communities in our city and region, said Professor Aleks Subic, vice chancellor and chief executive at Aston.

"And in particular our main purpose is to transform lives," he told BBC WM presenter Ed James, himself a trustee of Kids' Village.

He added the project was "something quite unique" for the UK and addressed the needs of "the most vulnerable young people that you could find in our society".

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