“It gave us all a chance to take some fresh air, just time to relax.”
Josephine's Story
A tranquil trip to Mersea Island was "a dream come true!"
Josephine and her two daughters, Osasogie who is 10-years-old, and 6-year-old Ofure, needed a chance to recuperate after an extremely hard couple of years. Just three nights away on a break to Mersea Island, Essex, with Family Holiday Charity gave them time to relax and reset as a family.
Josephine is a single mum to the girls. She works as a nurse in a hospital and during the pandemic was a key worker. Her experiences of caring for people with Covid has left her exhausted. The memory of the people who died stays with her.
I come home sometimes and I’m not able to shut my eyes. I still see all the people who died. What I saw keeps occurring. Honestly, I needed this break.
Thankfully, Mersea Island was the perfect place for Josephine and the girls to find calm. They loved being by the sea and all agreed it was such a beautiful spot. Osasogie says her favourite part was letting the view wash over her. While it was too cold to go into the sea, she enjoyed being on the beach and the sea view. Her most treasured memory is teaching her little sister to swim in the pool.
It was my sister’s birthday when we were away and her birthday wish was to go to a swimming pool for a treat. And that came true! My sister didn’t know how to swim but I taught her the basics and she learnt how to swim. It was just so nice to see her happy. That’s a beautiful memory for me.
Ofure agrees that she will always remember the swimming. And the play park, which she says was amazing. Ofure describes the whole experience as “a dream come true!"
And swimming in the pool is also a treasured memory for Josephine.
Especially when I was in the swimming pool - I forgot all my worries. I closed my eyes and floated. It was so refreshing for me.
Josephine has worked so hard to juggle being a nurse during the pandemic and being a single mum to two amazing girls. She doesn’t think she would have been able to afford the holiday on her own. The travel, accommodation, food costs for the three of them would have been too much. But it was so important for Josephine, Osasogie and Ofure to have a change of scenery, and enjoy the peace after such a challenging time.
Josephine says the holiday has changed some things for them and the girls not only want to go back, they want to live on Mersea Island!
We went to a different world entirely. That place is so beautiful, it was so calm. My kids like a quiet area. It gave us all a chance to take some fresh air, just time to relax.