HANOVER Dairies, one of the largest doorstep milk delivery companies in the UK, is sending eight families with terminally or severely ill children on an all-expenses paid summer holiday to Center Parcs at Penrith.

The week-long holiday starts in June and follows the success of last year’s charitable initiative, which saw four families take part.

This year the Newcastle-based company and its associate sponsors have raised sufficient funds to double the number of families involved.

They have been selected by children’s charity, The Rainbow Trust, and include children and parents from the Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Sunderland areas.

Trevor Hanover, company owner and a patron of The Rainbow Trust, said: “The children and families encounter immense concerns on a day-to day basis and having quality time together is very rewarding. It’s an extremely beneficial experience for the children as well as parents and family members, who continue to provide care on a 24 hour basis for their children.

“Every penny raised by Hanover Dairies and its associate sponsors goes direct to funding the charitable initiative. Hanover Dairies pays for every family’s transportation to Center Parcs and their return journey home. Each individual family also receives £1,000 spending money as part of the package.”

The initiative was the idea of Mr Hanover and the company’s managing director Tony Baldwin, as part of the fundraising work undertaken with The Rainbow Trust.

Mr Hanover became involved with the Trust in 2008 and has since raised more than £250,000 through fund-raising activities.

In 2016, he was named a ‘Point of Light’ by 10 Downing Street for his voluntary work for the Trust and in November last year, the company hosted the Hanover Charity Ball, which raised more than £50,000 for the Trust.

Hanover Dairies supplies milk to 200 doorstep delivery rounds; hundreds of local businesses, shops and to more than 1,000 schools. It has championed the use of glass-bottle milk deliveries since July 2016, and has added more than 26,000 customers.

Mr Hanover started the business with a single milk round in Gateshead in 1976 and has continually developed his northern England base with depots at Blackpool, Manchester and Preston.

The business has 20 distribution centres throughout the north-east and north-west of England and central Scotland.