Across Derbyshire, young children are facing huge day-to-day challenges in their lives - whether that's from living in poverty, being a young carer, battling mental health issues or struggling with social interaction.

Every year, Derby Kids' Camp provides a free adventure holiday for over 300 of these young children - giving them a much-needed change of scene, new experiences and time to make treasured childhood memories.

We're a community of over 170 volunteers who believe that all children should have chance to experience the freedom, excitement and adventure of a childhood holiday, and each year we work together to fundraise, organise, build and staff the camp - ensuring that our charity is 100% volunteer run so that every penny raised can go directly towards a child's holiday.

Children are nominated for our holidays by schools and social services for a whole variety of reasons - you can read more about them here. We can't fix the underlying challenges that they face, but we can provide a week of respite for both the child and their family.

Beyond creating life-long memories, the holidays have a huge benefit to the child. We work hard to provide new experiences to the children, who spend the week trying out new activities, new foods, meeting new friends - and for many, sleeping in a tent or staying away from home for the first time.

We often hear back from schools and parents how children have returned from their week with us showing increased confidence, a sense of independence - and most importantly, what an incredible time they've had!

Because we're an entirely volunteer-run charity, we're able to provide great value for money. Each child's holiday costs us around £140 - this includes all of their activities, meals for the week and transport both during the week and to and from camp.

We receive no government funding, and every year we have to raise in the region of £45,000 to provide these holidays. This is made possible with the generosity and support of local businesses, the local community, grant-making trusts and people just like you!

Our own special take on 'The 12 Days of Christmas' shows how even a small donation can make a real positive difference in the life of a young child. Please give what support you can as we work towards summer 2020 and taking hundreds more children on a fantastic break!

Without further ado!

A week on kids' camp just wouldn't be the same without our wonderful Talent Show to finish the week! £4 could buy a hula hoop - used for a popular talent show act!

The kids love not only decorating cakes, but a whole host of craft activities throughout the week. Could you spare us £3 towards keeping our craft supplies topped up?

Our kid's tents are 'home' for groups of children - and for many of them, it's the first time they've stayed in a tent or been away from home. With £5, we could buy a teddy to make it extra cosy and welcoming for a child who's feeling a bit apprehensive.

'Movie Night' is one of our newer activities on camp - the kids have a fantastic time going to our 'cinema under the stars' - and £1.50 could buy a bag of popcorn so they can enjoy the full movie experience!

This one suits both the 12 Days of Christmas and us - as we have our very own attempts at milking as part of our day out to the farm and adventure playground. The kids loving meeting a whole range of animals up close as well as having hours of fun on the playground. It costs us £6 for each child's ticket.

The week starts when we head to pick up around 70 children from different areas of Derby. Some of our families don't have access to transport, and so all the children are collected and dropped off near their home, as well as being transported to different trips throughout the week. £5.50 would cover one of the coach journeys for a child.

Each group of around 70 children stays on camp for 6 days, with teams of 30+ volunteers swapping over on the 7th day. A holiday costs us around £140 per child, or £23.50 for each day they're on camp - please could you spare us £5 to put towards that?

...or hula hoops?

As part of our canvas village, we have an amazing fully-equipped cook tent where thousands of meals are prepared each week. Cooked breakfasts, hot dinners, lunches and warm puddings keep both children and helpers cosy, warm and full of energy during the week - and it costs us an average of just £2.50 per meal.

A week on camp is packed full of activities - whether it's trips, sports and craft activities on-site, or a session run by one of our wonderful visitors. These activities are a great chance for the children to try out something new and have a memorable experience! Please could you donate £5 that we can put towards these experiences for them?

The children love spending an evening at the campfire - singing silly songs, drinking cocoa and passing around a box of biscuits - the latter of which you could help us fund for £3!

Whenever the sun shines on camp (and sometimes even when it doesn't!), water fights break out on the field, in the river and in the swimming pool. £2 covers a child's entry to the swimming pool session, where they have great fun splashing the helpers!

There's an almost continual game of football in between activities on camp! £4 could buy a football to top up our sports equipment which the children love to play with during 'down time' on their holiday!

We've come to the end of our sing-a-long (we hope you were joining in!)

A huge thank you for any support you're able to give - it will make a real difference to a local young child in 2020!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas, and if you'd like to find out more about what we do, please visit our website.