As we publish our 2025 Annual Report and Accounts, I am incredibly proud to look back on everything we achieved together over the year.
During 2025, we delivered more than 1,100 breaks for children aged 8 to 13. Across the seasons, our centres were full of activity, creativity and connection. Over the long summer months, we maximised use of our outdoor spaces with picnics, archery, orienteering and trips to the beach and nearby national parks. As autumn arrived, children gathered around fires, celebrated the changing seasons and found calm and confidence in nature.
Read our 2025 Annual Report and Accounts here
Behind these moments was a year of purposeful growth and careful innovation. Since emerging from the pandemic, we have steadily rebuilt the charity to a position of confidence and stability. We have invested in recruiting and training a skilled workforce capable of supporting children with a wide range of needs, while continuing to test and refine how we deliver our breaks.
In 2025, we welcomed 1,103 children and young people to our two centres. The need for Go Beyond breaks has never been greater. With 4.5 million children living in poverty, hardship continues to affect children’s health, wellbeing and future aspirations.
Every Go Beyond break was tailored to each child’s needs and experiences. Children were given the space to relax away from difficult circumstances, make new friends, try new things and discover what they are capable of.
And we know those experiences make a difference. In 2025, all 16 areas of wellbeing measured by the Stirling Children’s Wellbeing Scale improved following a Go Beyond break. Children told us they felt calmer, more cheerful and more relaxed, more optimistic about the future and more confident in themselves.
“I’m going to miss all the Go Beyond team members. It was one of the best times of my life.”
One of the most memorable moments of the year was being invited by HRH The Princess of Wales to take part in her Mother Nature series, with a small group of children enjoying a memorable visit to Windsor Great Park. As winter approached, our focus turned to Christmas and, as always, every child received a present, lovingly wrapped by our corporate volunteers and posted to their home address.
We also continued to explore how we can reach children who have previously been unable to access a Go Beyond break. In 2025, we trialled new approaches, including co-delivering breaks with partner organisations to support children with specific needs.
We also spent much of the year developing a new, flexible delivery model that allows us to take Go Beyond to children in other parts of the country. That work has now become a reality, with our first pilot breaks at Cardfields in the Southeast taking place this year. It marks an exciting step towards reaching children for whom distance has previously been a barrier to accessing our support.
None of this progress would have been possible without a true collective effort.
Our long-standing supporters, new donors, corporate partners, trusts and foundations have all played their part in helping us meet our fundraising target in a challenging climate. We are also deeply grateful to our referral partners, including schools, local authorities and fellow charities, and to the 150 volunteers whose time, energy and commitment continue to make an extraordinary difference.
A defining moment in 2025 was the receipt of a substantial and unexpected legacy. This extraordinary gift will help us transform the accommodation and facilities at our centres and help us reach more children in the years ahead.
Looking ahead, Go Beyond has an ambitious vision for growth. In line with our current strategy, we are on course to deliver 5,000 breaks over five years, combining the strength and experience of our existing centres with new ways of reaching children in areas where the need is greatest.
Throughout this period of growth and change, one thing has never shifted: our core purpose. To give children who really need it the chance to take a break, feel safe, build confidence and create memories that last a lifetime.
It is why we will always put children first.
Michele
