A group of children from Tenerife has visited Burnham-On-Sea over the past week with the help of local Lions Club members.
The group, Tenerife Sur Lions, has been organising childrens holidays for under-privileged and disadvantaged children for sixteen years.
“We bring groups of children from different parts of the UK each year and take a similar group from Tenerife to the UK. For many of the children is their first holiday ever,” explained organiser Dennis Peters.
“Those coming from Tenerife are drawn from the local Down Syndrome Association, local children’s homes and local authority care. The club allocates a number of holiday places to each group and the selection is then left to the organisations themselves.”
“There have been a number of holiday destinations over the years and last year Somerset was chosen. This proved to be an exceptional destination due to, not only the variety of holiday attractions but also the tremendous support from the local Lions clubs.”
Although these holidays receive ‘much hands-on’ organisational support by Lions Club members to insure their success, the financial cost to the club is enormous.
Lion Dennis Peters of Bridgwater Lions Club and his wife Hilary organised a whole list of events with the help of Burnham, Weston & Cheddar lions clubs also donations from all lions clubs in the area.
During their visit, the group visited BARB and Burnham RNLI where they made donations to both charities. They were also treated to a party at Burnham’s BAY Centre (pictured) and visited Secretworld, Longleat, Cheddar Gorge, Weston and Minehead.
