A Derby IT boss has thanked a much-loved children’s charity for helping him start off on the right foot.
Lee Jepson, director of L.E.A.D. IT services, has never forgotten his time with the Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre in Skegness.
Lee, whose company provides IT services to schools across the country, had a holiday at the centre while a pupil at Nightingale Primary School in Allenton – and has kept warm memories of his time there ever since.
He said: “It meant a lot. I wasn’t having any holidays and I think that must have come up in conversation at school, and I think I was nominated by my head teacher to go. It would have been my only opportunity to have a holiday.”
Lee said his abiding memories of the holiday centre were of the games room, where he got an early experience into the world of tech as it was kitted out with retro-classic Atari and Commodore games consoles.
“I was a tech head even then,” said Lee, who also remembers trips to the beach – his first memory of the seaside – playing board games, and getting to know children from different Derbyshire schools.
He said: “I was with other children who weren’t from the same school and that mix was really nice – and it was a first for me.”
Lee is now a successful entrepreneur running his own company, and is committed to giving back to charity having benefited from it as a child.
This summer he and his son will be volunteering at Derby Kids’ Camp – which also provides free holidays to Derbyshire children who might otherwise not get a break.
On May 18 he is also taking on the SkegVegas100 – a 100-mile bike ride from Derby to Skegness that is raising funds for the Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre and Derby Kids’ Camp.
Lee said: “Going to the holiday centre meant a lot to me. It’s the reason why I want to give back and help other children in the same way I was helped.”
Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre chair Alan Grimadell said: “Our charity has been going since 1891 and it’s always very moving to hear stories such as this one from Lee Jepson who has gone on to be such a successful entrepreneur.
“It’s wonderful that he has such happy memories of going to the centre as a child and that now he is grown up, he is giving back by undertaking the SkegVegas100 for us. We know that time at our centre means a lot to the children who come to us, not just because it gives them a break, but it gives them a lot of confidence too.
“I wish Lee all the very best with the ride and hope he enjoys seeing inside the centre again when he arrives in Skegness. I look forward to welcoming Lee and all of the Skeg Vegas cyclists when they arrive at the DCHC holiday centre on May 18.”
To support the SkegVegas100 bike ride on May 18, see www.skegvegas100.co.uk and click ‘donate’.
