“When I left the family home, I had nothing. So to have a holiday, to get a break away was really lovely.”
Jenny's Story
With a toddler, ten-year-old twins and a teenage daughter, Jenny doesn’t get much time in life to just sit and enjoy the moment. A few years ago, she separated from the father of her older children who was abusive.
When I left the family home, I had nothing. I had to start again from fresh. We’ve had a rotten time of it, it was very draining for all of us. So to have a holiday, to get a break away was really lovely. It was such a nice thing to just go on the beach with the kids and forget everything and have fun.
When Jenny was young, the Norfolk resort of Great Yarmouth was where her parents used to take her on holiday. Many years later, now a mum of four, it was only natural that it would be the first place she thought of when she learned that she had been referred for a break away with Family Holiday Charity.
Jenny says,
I picked a place that I knew so that I knew what to expect. There’s nice beaches and a lot to do for the children. It’s quite easy to get to from where I am. I wouldn’t say it’s changed much at all which is nice. All the funfair rides are the same, and the beach.
"The kids went for a paddle. We built sandcastles. We got some chips and ate them on the beach and had ice cream. It was the first time my youngest daughter had been on the beach and she absolutely loved it with her bucket and spade. We were all comfortable, all relaxed, just taking in the scenery and appreciating it."
It had been a while since Jenny had felt quite so carefree. In 2021, she separated from the father of her older children who was abusive. She explains,
We’ve had rotten time of it, it was very draining for all of us. When I left the family home, I had nothing. I had to start again from fresh. So to have a holiday, to get a break away was really lovely. It was such a nice thing to just go on the beach with the kids and forget everything and have fun.
We went to the beach every day because the caravan was only a ten-minute walk away. One evening we went into Yarmouth where all the arcades are and then went on the beach as the sun was setting. On the last day when it was the best weather, we went to Hemsby beach and managed to get a bit of sunbathing in, it was a real summer’s day.
The kids loved the caravan, it was modern, clean and we felt safe there. We’d go out on the veranda and eat our breakfast there. Jenny continues,
I felt so happy because the kids were happy. They didn’t want to leave to be honest.
Bringing up four children on her own means that money is often quite tight which is why the family hadn’t been away anywhere since before the pandemic. Jenny continues,
The kids had asked me ‘Mum, are we going on holiday this year, are we doing anything?’ And I’d said, ‘well I don’t think so, we can’t afford it, maybe next year’ so it was a bit of a shock to them when we found out about the holiday, but a good shock!
Times are hard for everyone at the minute, a lot of people are struggling and I really appreciate and feel blessed with what I’ve got.
But I would like to do things better for my children, that’s why I’ve done the dog grooming course. And I would also like to do a chiropody course because I’m a nail technician already.
That’s my hope, to make us financially stable so that I can do more things with the children. The holiday really helped me to believe that that’s possible.
