Spireites stars Zach Hemming, James Berry, Alex Whitney and Connor Cook recently visited the Trust’s Camp Inspire over the Easter holidays.
Craig Dawson, wellbeing officer, spoke after the visit about how much the children enjoyed it. He said: “The smile on the children’s faces when the players walked in was brilliant.
“To our children at Camp Inspire, it was extra special because, due to the timings of Camp Inspire, the children don’t get to see the players usually, but we decided to stay open an extra hour so the players and children could join in activities together.
“All the players got involved with the activities, where they had to steal ‘treasure’ from an island and take it back to their ship, and the players did it, no questions asked. Afterwards, the children wanted to play football with the players, who were more than happy to join in.”
Craig also spoke about an interaction with James Berry during the visit. He explained: “It was interesting chatting with James about Camp Inspire because he didn’t quite understand the need for HAF (Holiday Activities and Food) programmes during the school holidays.
“He asked loads of questions to find out the full picture and understand just how much deprivation there is in Derbyshire, and he was shocked to hear that most of the children attending Camp Inspire during the holidays provided the only hot meal that they had.”
Finally, Craig praised the players’ attitude towards the visit, adding: “Just wanted to say thank you to the players for attending the session and getting stuck in. You don’t know how much it actually means to the children, so thank you!”
