Column: Travel with Katie Butler: A successful toy appeal and we can’t thank you enough
It barely seems like only a few months ago (never mind a whole year) since I was last writing our Christmas update, but here we are, Christmas is upon us and we are delighted with the success of our Christmas Toy Appeal for Cash for Kids. Mission accomplished!
I was hoping for our biggest collection ever and our customers and members of the community did not let us down, in fact all three of our stores are overwhelmed with your generosity and the piles of toys and gifts mounted up across all our three branches in Heckmondwike, Ossett and Brighouse and all the gifts have now been delivered to the Cash for Kids warehouse in Leeds (as always thanks to my long-suffering husband) and will be gifted to children in and around our local areas.
We really would like to thank you all for your amazing donations and generosity, especially as so many are feeling the pinch of the continued cost of living.
We have taken part in this initiative since we opened back in 2013 at Heckmondwike and encouraged our new branches to do the same and I feel privileged to be in a position to give back to our local communities. At this time of year we have the time, we have the space and we have the support of our local towns.
It is the calm before the storm. Whilst January is our absolute busiest month of the year for new bookings, of course December is our quietest (after all and perhaps like me, many of you will be rushing around completing final preparations for the big day, with holidays being the last thing on your mind).
We, along with every other travel agency across the country, can take time and prepare for our ‘peak’ season, ensuring we are fully stocked with stationery supplies, coffee and of course ensuring we are armed with our supplier campaigns. Hopefully there will be some fantastic deals to be had and of course I can’t wait to tell you all about them.
One new product we are really excited about in-store is the brand-new partnership between Eurocamp and Jet2holidays. Jet2holidays are introducing holiday parks as a new product line after partnering with Eurocamp to offer stays in 32 locations across France, Croatia and Italy in summer 2026. Two and three-bedroom mobile homes will come as standard, with self-catering options and on-site dining available.
The tour operator described the range as “ideal” for families and pointed to the inclusion of car hire as a key feature, enabling travellers to visit nearby resorts and attractions and stock up on essential items.
We remained steady away last week with last-minute Christmas gift ideas and holiday vouchers. With regard to new holiday bookings, late deals were again strong accounting for 31 per cent of our new bookings with top-selling destinations being Tenerife and Lanzarote, followed closely with cruises departing from Southampton once again.
We will be closing just after lunch on December 23 and will re-open again on Saturday, December 27 at 9am.
I would like to take this opportunity to personally wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a huge thank you to all our customers old and new who continue to support us. Have a good one!