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It was Charles Porter, a former Rover Scout, who came up with the idea almost by accident in the late 1960's when he had already passed his 80th birthday (a time when most people think only of the past and not the future).

Charles had moved into a house in the main street of Exmouth which leads to the seafront. Its large front garden had been badly neglected and he set about cultivating it. One of his ideas was a sizeable rockery close to the road and in this he placed a small bucket with a stone inscribed "Wishing Well".

To his amazement, passers-by began dropping coins into the well and this gave him the idea of using it for charity fundraising. It was so successful that, in the first year, he was able to donate more than £400 to charity .. And this was before inflation took off!

Charles had a niece who had two children with special needs, and a chance remark about the difficulty of finding a place to take them on holiday further fired his imagination and led him to decide to devote the money collected in the "Wishing Well" to buying a caravan for the use of any families with special needs at the local Sandy Bay Holiday Camp.

Thanks to the continuing success of the "Wishing Well" and the help of Scouting friends, Charles was soon able to buy a second caravan at Sandy Bay.

Then an article about the caravans was published in the 'Guildsman'; a magazine which was read by former Scouts from all over the country and, in 1968, thanks to their donations, a third caravan was installed at Sandy Bay - now called Devon Cliffs Holiday Park and is owned by Haven Holidays.

In 1969, Charles Porter was 84 and although he thought he was "getting on a bit", he was determined that the scheme should go on. He persuaded the B-P Scout Guild to adopt the scheme and create a registered national charity. In the ensuing years the Trust, as part of the Guild, was absorbed into the Scout Association and duly re-named The Scout Holiday Homes Trust so that, in 2003, it is celebrating its 34th year of community service.

Over six thousand families have had holidays at the Trust's caravans and chalets and more than half a million pounds have been raised through fundraising schemes.

It is important to note that a Scouting connection has never been a condition of acceptance for a Trust holiday. This is a service available to ANY family with special needs.

Over the years there has been a continuous planned development programme involving the purchase of new caravans, replacing old models, and replacing some chalets with caravans - all with the firm intention of ensuring that any family in need will enjoy as high a standard of self-catering holiday accommodation as possible.

There has also been a continual reviewing of the holiday parks. As a result, for various reasons such as declining standards or lack of public appeal, some have been abandoned and some excellent alternatives found. Over the last few years we have purchased new caravans on three new all-action holiday parks - at Clacton in Essex, Berwick-on-Tweed in Northumberland and Great Yarmouth in Norfolk.

Today the Trust has sixteen first class caravans and two super chalets at thirteen of the finest holiday parks in the country.

The Trust is indebted to both caravan manufacturers and the holiday park managements for the immense strides they have made since the Trust was formed. The latest addition to its fleet is a new Pemberton Sovereign caravan at Burnham-on-Sea which is 12ft wide by 37ft long, and has a wheel-in shower and wheelchair height kitchen units, and is centrally heated and double glazed. The Trust's modern caravan is a marvel of engineering ingenuity with every basic amenity built into the construction.

All of the Trust's units have a complete kitchen with gas or electric cooker, fridge and water heater, shower, flush toilet, wash hand basin, sleeping accommodation for up to six people in single or double beds and a comfortable lounge.

These developments have been matched by the site managements which have enabled the caravans to be connected to all the public utility systems. There is nothing primitive about it these days.

To these amenities, the Trust itself added a full inventory of kitchen utensils, crockery, cutlery, vacuum cleaner, heaters, microwave oven and combined colour T.V and video. All the visitor need bring is bed linen, towels and tea cloths.

Developments are continuing and the one the Trust welcomes particularly is the introduction of caravans specifically designed for use by disabled people. It has been quick to take advantage of this great step forward and the caravans designed by the Atlas and Pemberton companies are already forming the next generation of replacement units.

On some of the holiday parks, the Trust has been allowed to extend the ramp into a veranda area, which provides a delightful wheelchair-accessible place to sit, read or sunbath, or just look at the view.

With competition from holidays abroad, theme parks and other innovations, the holiday parks are continually improving their facilities so that, for the most part, whatever the weather, there are activities and entertainments on site so that the visitor need not look elsewhere.

There is nothing down-market about today's holiday park.

Charles Porter had to make do with second-hand caravans that had none of the luxuries of today's units. Even then, the approach for wheelchairs was built and installed by Charles and his helpers.

But, just because there has been so much improvement over the years, public expectations are high and, to maintain its reputation for excellence, the Trust must replace each unit within a ten to fifteen year period.

And, or course, that takes money.

A modern caravan costs over £20,000 when sited and fully equipped. The Trust has eighteen units. That means an investment in new caravans of more than £360,000 over ten years - £36,000 a year. This is over and above on-going operating costs.

So that it can develop in the way it would like, and to be able to improve its service, the Trust really needs about £50,000 in donations every year.