 Before long, the couple had the money they needed, and by 1975 the Family Holiday Association had become registered a national charity.Soon the Laurances began to feel that they were in a position to write to their local social services department to ask if they knew of any families who might benefit from a holiday.At this time, Joan and Patrick decided that for a family to be awarded a holiday, the family needed to be under stress and not to have had a holiday for three years.