Following findings by WA Shearings that over 30% of UK grandparents contribute financially towards holidays and school trips for their grandchildren - the operator is launching new grandparenting tours next month. 

Prices for the first ever tailored holidays specifically designed for grandparents and grandchildren start at £119 for adults and £69 for children for a two night Legoland and London Eye break, including travel by coach.

WA Shearings’ report looks at all aspects of today’s relationships between grandparents and grandchildren and includes evidence that families are closer than ever before. Some 55% of the grandparents questioned believing they had a closer relationship with their grandchildren than they had with their own grandparents.

Karen Gee, Sales and Marketing Director at WA Shearings said: “From our research there is obviously a clear need for a specially tailored product which caters for grandparents wanting to travel with their grandchildren.  Our figures show that today’s grandparents are more involved with their grandchildren’s upbringing than ever before providing much needed financial and emotional support.

“With 32% of grandparents contributing towards holidays and over 75% of grandparents spending up to £1000 on their grandchildren, we are confident that our tours not only fill a much needed gap in the market, but will also provide much needed rest and relaxation for both grandparents and grandchildren.”

The survey reveals that the extended family is more important than it has ever been providing both financial and emotional support both ways.  It is clear that grandparents very involved in the childcare role, particularly when their grandchildren have working parents. Nearly 30% provide regular childcare for their grandchildren whilst their parents are out working and 38% claimed to babysit on a regular basis.

Over 90% of grandparents in the UK claim to have an excellent relationship with their grandchildren and 82% see their grandchildren on a regular basis.  Some 80% also felt that their grandchildren were as glad to see their grandparents as they were to see them.

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