QUIDS KIDS FOR
Use your old £1 coins to make an Xmas wish come true
The Mail today asks kind-hearted readers to donate their old £1 coins to help make magical dreams come true for seriously ill children — and transform their lives this Christmas. Round £1 coins cease to be legal tender on Monday and can be exchanged for new 12-sided coins at banks and Post Offices. But we are appealing to readers to instead give them to Make-A-Wish Foundation UK, to give hope back to children who are bravely fighting cancer and other life-threatening conditions.
The amazing charity supports youngsters, such as Ffion Jackson, 16, from Wales (pictured right), who endure gruelling treatment, endless medical appointments and who have to spend long periods in hospital away from family and friends.
With your help, these children can get quality time away from the daily difficulties of living with a serious condition and make glorious memories they can treasure, whatever their future holds. Thanks to Make-A-Wish UK, children have starred in their own films, swum with dolphins and met their heroes.
For Ffion — who battled hodgkin lymphoma for 18 months, spent a month in an isolation ward after a stem cell transplant, lost all her hair and nearly died — the choice was clear. her One True Wish was a family holiday to Lapland, complete with reindeer, huskies, snow mobiles and Father Christmas.
‘All the time I’d been in hospital I’d dreamt of escaping everything on a proper holiday with Mum and Dad.
‘It was like a miracle,’ she said of the four- day trip. ‘It gave me hope for the first time in a yearand-a-half and made me look to the future and start planning things again.’
The Mail has partnered with Nationwide Building Society, which will take old £1 coins for the charity until December 20.
Just hand them to the cashier at any Nationwide branch, stating that you wish to give them to the Mail’s Quids For Kids Make-AWish Foundation UK appeal.
You can also make extra donations there; and if you don’t have any old pound coins, you can donate online, by text message, or by cheque (see the box printed far right for details).
Ffion is now in remission. She is studying for her A-levels, has a boyfriend, loves going ten-pin bowling, eating spicy food and hanging out with her friends like a normal teenager.
She is one of the lucky ones. More than 20,000 children and young people in the UK have a life-threatening condition. MakeA-Wish Foundation began in the UK in 1986 and has granted more than 11,000 wishes, which provide these children with hope, joy, and resilience to fight their illnesses.
This year, it hopes to help 1,000 youngsters aged between three and 17. These children are often isolated, lonely and painfully aware of all the fun they’re missing out on.
Sometimes they’ve almost given up on happiness, but doctors say the wishes turn that around and actually help them cope better with their ongoing treatments.
Dr Simon Parke, a consultant paediatrician from the Royal Devon and exeter hospital, said: ‘When children are diagnosed with cancer or any other potentially life- threatening condition, the world can seem like a very dark place for the child and for their family. One of the things we can do to try to illuminate a pathway is to give them a positive experience.
‘That’s where Make-A-Wish UK comes in. It’s something to look forward to. It can actually cause children to feel better. It can make them rally their strength in order to face what’s ahead, and the wish can be their focus. It certainly was for Ffion. ‘Make-A-Wish UK saved me,’ she said. ‘For months and months, it gave me something to keep going for.’
Joe Garner, Nationwide’s chief executive, said: ‘Make-A-Wish Foundation UK is an incredibly good cause and we’re proud to help the Daily Mail’s readers give these children and their families a Christmas to remember, a chance to spend precious, unforgettable moments together and to make a young person’s dream come true.
‘Supporting people through difficult times is an issue close to our heart and the reason why we launched a dedicated specialist support service to help members facing challenges, such as lifelimiting conditions, at a time when money should be the last thing on their mind.’
So please, please, don’t just turn the page. Get up right now and start rummaging. Dig out those old £1 coins — from piggy banks, money boxes, old wallets or the back of your sofa — and help Make-A-Wish Foundation UK give desperately sick children hope again.