A charity that takes severely-ill children and their families away on holiday is celebrating a cash-boost that has given them the best possible start to next year.

Batiaboutkidz, now in its tenth year, says the donation’s timing could not be any better.

The Bradford-based group got £7,500 towards next year’s trips from the Cleaves and Whitehead Trust, organised via the Bradford branch of the Masons.

The money will pay for transport to London and what is left will go towards getting the youngsters into Legoland in April.

Despite the boost, however, the charity still needs donations to fund trips such as the summertime one to Disneyland Paris.

Maralyn Adey, whose son Kristian, 23, has Down’s syndrome, is one of Batiaboutkidz organisers. Mrs Adey wants to get more referrals from Bradford families so they can be included on the trips that take about 13 families away at a time.

She said: “For some reason only a few of those referrals come from Bradford – others come from all over Yorkshire. We’d like more from Bradford, seeing as this is our base.

“Each trip we take costs us a fortune – just the specialist transport we need costs us £5,000 a time. A trip all-in per family is about £1,500.”

There are still places available on the Legoland and and Disneyland trips.

As well as relying on donations, the group organises fundraising events, including table top sales, but its supporters’ homes are running out of space for keeping all the stock.

“If any business in the city or club has a bit of spare space we could use for storage that would be great,” said Mrs Adey.

The charity is also still looking for a celebrity patron to back its work and raise its profile. Anyone who can help or is interested in going on the trips should contact Mrs Adey on (01274) 206464.