Single Parent Travel Club

Are you a single parent with custody or access? If you are and would like to share holidays or days out with other single mums and dads, why not join the SPTC?

The SPTC, started in 1991 as a self-help group for all single mums and dads, including those with access. The aim of the club is to link single parent families so they can enjoy holidays, days out and other events together.

A wide range and variety of holidays have been organised by members over the years. In the UK these have included Youth Hostels, holiday Camps (Haven, Butlins, Centre Parks, Oasis etc), camping, hotels and country cottages. Foreign holidays have included, Florida (Disney World), Spain, Greece, France, Kenya as well as skiing in Slovenia and Andorra. Local groups regularly organise days out. These have included for example, visits to museums, zoos, Legoland, Alton Towers as well as walks and cycling.

The Club is funded by an annual membership fee of just £7.50! For this, members receive a newsletter issued four times a year, which details trips and events, often at a substantial discount to what would be available to the private individual. Also a recent addition is the SPTC Internet and email message board where members can post and receive messages to and from every member of the group. This is proving to be a very useful method of interaction between members who have email with many get-togethers and short notice holidays being organised.

Examples of recent holidays that SPTC members have enjoyed were Disney World in Florida and Paris, Greece, Italy and Minorca to name a few. In the UK there are usually summer holidays on offer as well as breaks at Christmas and New Year. Our AGM at the end of May is combined with a weekend away and this year 80 adults and children stayed in a Youth Hostel in the Peak District and 20 families camping nearby who made it a half term holiday. In addition to this there are YHA Weekends to hostels the length and breadth of the country along with day trips and social gatherings. In many areas there are established local groups who are looking for new members to join in and help organise regular outings.

The benefits of belonging to the SPTC are many. Children make friends and enjoy playing together which in turn can relieve the pressure on parents. Many parents also welcome the company of other adults, the opportunity to share experiences and help each other resolve problems that seem to crop up at one time or another for all single parents.

The Club recognises that, in many ways, single mums are better at 'networking' than their male counterparts. Single dads often feel left 'out in the cold,' choosing whether to take their children to the cinema or Macdonald's on access days and weekends. The SPTC offers a constructive social outlet, which aims to provide for both the needs of the children and those of the single parent.

All these holidays and days out are just to give you an idea of things that have been organised; however once you are a member the possibilities are in fact endless! The world is your oyster!

For local contact enquiries: localcontacts@sptc.org.uk

For further information see our website: www.sptc.org.uk

For enquiries or to join, please contact via email: enquiries@sptc.org.uk

Or telephone 0870 2416210