A charity here wants to give poor families in Singapore a free staycation as respite from all their woes.
The Break Away Holiday Charity is the brainchild of Swiss banker Andrea Meierhofer, who roped in his Singaporean wife Sharin Lim, and their friend Minz Xu to start the group.
Mr Meierhofer, 44, was inspired by the British charity, Family Holiday Association, which gives families struggling with illnesses, disability or other problems a short holiday. The British charity believes that holidays are “a lifeline, not a luxury”.
Madam Lim, a 38-year-old stay-at-home mother of two, said: “Some low-income families have problems putting food on the table, let alone go for a holiday. We believe that holidays give them a psychological boost, a breakaway from their stressful daily lives and it also promotes family bonding.”
The group, which was registered as a charity in December last year, works with family service centres to reward needy families who are trying their best to resolve their problems with a free staycation, Madam Lim said.
So far, it has given a three-day stay at the Novotel Singapore on Stevens, a four-star hotel, to a financially strapped family with four children, aged from three to nine.
The charity is trying to find sponsors and forge partnerships with more family service centres to give needy families here a holiday.
By giving the families a short holiday, Madam Lim said they can “just enjoy themselves and spend quality time with their families”.
“This opens their lives up to possibilities and hope, and hope is a powerful motivating factor in life.”
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Source: The Straits Times, 9 December 2018