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Luxury cruise retailer Panache Cruises has pledged to raise at least £50,000 for Reuben’s Retreat, a charity inspired by a 23-month-old boy who died of a brain tumour. Reuben’s Retreat was set up by parents Nicola and Mike Graham to support families with complexly poorly conceived children and families of child loss.

Reuben passed away in 2012 from an aggressive brain tumour whilst on a family holiday in Devon. James Cole, CEO of Panache Cruises, has decided to mark his recent 50th birthday by raising at least £50,000 for the charity. The fundraising will include climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in June, with the money going towards the charity’s attempts to raise the £1m needed to create four self-catering suites.

“We’ve supported Reuben’s Retreat for a number of years, but I turned 50 in February, and I wanted to do something special this year and could think of no better cause than Reuben’s Retreat,” Cole said. “They’re currently in the process of trying to raise more than £1m to finish off the retreat in Glossop by renovating four family apartments. We’ve committed to raising at least £50,000 this year for them, but we’re confident we can raise quite a bit more. Panache Cruises is five years old in 2025, so it seemed like the right thing to do.”

As part of the fundraising, Panache Cruises has agreed to donate £10 for every single booking they make in 2025 and ask customers if they’ll do the same. “Last year we had 3,000 bookings, so that would be £30,000 straight away, even before a contribution from our customers,” Cole said.

In addition, more than a dozen staff have signed up to scale Mount Kilimanjaro in June. “It’s about challenging yourself,” Cole said. “We’ve asked the people who have signed up to raise at least £5,000 each for Reuben’s Retreat. We recognise that not everyone is able to commit to climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, so we’ve decided to organise a local event to Rivington Pike on Winter Hill.”

Reuben’s mom, Nicola, is the CEO and founder of Reuben’s Retreat and said she was ‘humbled’ by the company’s generosity. “We promise to spend and invest every single penny wisely; in support of the families, we are so honoured to walk with,” she said. “Thank you to the entire team at Panache Cruises for bringing their awesome energies to our cause, so that in turn we may continue our vital work supporting children that may face an uncertain future and families after child loss. 

We are actively supporting over 750+ individuals. Every penny raised goes towards this work, as we cost around £40k a month to open our doors for support. Any surplus goes into our build fund, which secures our future renovation and vision. The more we raise, the more we renovate, and the more we renovate, the more families we reach.

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