Ruddi's Retreat

Ruddi’s Retreat, a Huddersfield-based charity that provides holidays for families with seriously ill children, received an award of £24,000.

Thanks to our support, the charity has been able to refurbish a cafe in Slaithwaite, which will provide an invaluable source of income to ensure they can continue to help seriously ill children and their families have access to a holiday home for free.  

Ruddi's Retreat was set up by Ali Waterworth, Mum of Ruddi Waterworth-Jones, who was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer of the soft tissue when he was just six months old.  Vicki Green, Assistant Manager at the charity explains, “After being diagnosed, Ruddi endured years of treatment, including therapies that took place in America and although the signs of cancer eventually cleared, Ruddi still suffers from the effects of chemotherapy with decreased kidney function and rickets.  I’m pleased to say that in September 2012, Ruddi started reception class at school where he made many friends and has continued to persevere through adversity to this day.”

Vicki continued, “Having been through such a traumatic experience, Ruddi’s family knew the devastating impact that having a child with a serious illness has on loved ones and wanted to help other people in similar positions. With this in mind, ‘Ruddi’s Retreat’ was formed, which provides family holidays completely free of charge at Primrose Valley in Filey, enabling families to enjoy a holiday together without having to worry about the financial cost and focus on having fun!” 

In addition to this, the charity also recently expanded their activities to provide ‘Gwennie’s Getaways’, which offers short term breaks to those with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia and their family or carers at the holiday park.  The charity is now celebrating its 10th Anniversary and in that time they have been able to provide over 1000 holidays where more than half of those families live within our region, making a real difference to the lives of children who are seriously ill and creating memories that will last a lifetime. 

However, providing free holidays to families means that the charity needs to maintain a sustainable income.  “We found premises in the centre of Slaithwaite village that is perfect for us to create a new charity cafe. The whole building needed a complete renovation, which the massively generous grant from the Morrisons Foundation will enable us to fulfil in its entirety.  We anticiapate that the footfall will increase by around 80% compared to our previous cafe, ensuring we can continue to accommodate families in our holiday homes for many years to come”