A Century Of Holidays

Poor boys of Leicester in the 1800's whom Lady Rolleston saw selling newspapers in the city to earn a few pennies to help feed their familes were the inspiration for our charity.
These children with inadequate clothing and as often as not, no shoes, were out in all weathers.

Lady Rolleston frequently invited poor children to her home for food and recreation, and saw that their was a need for the boys to relax and to meet with other boys.
After consulting her husband the noted architect Sir John Rolleston the first Leicester boys club was founded.

Lady Rolleston thought it would be a good idea for these boys to go to the seaside for a break, so they were taken camping to the sand dunes at Mablethorpe, when she saw how much they enjoyed the holiday she decided to form a permanent organisation so she called a meeting, and with the help of the Mayor and local businessmen, together they formed the Leicester Poor Boys Summer Camp. A year later the title was changed to the Leicester Poor Boys and Girls Summer Camp and Institute

Whilst it was thought satisfactory for boys to camp in tents it was felt, "unseemly" for young ladies, so in 1900 a purpose built shelter was erected. Whilst the boys still slept in tents, the dining hall was shared by the two.

Early records show the criterea for
a child to have a holiday were

1- Orphans
2- Fatherless children
3- Motherless children
4- General deserving cases