Quids for Kids: You help raise over £100k in just three weeks
KIND-HEArTED Daily Mail readers have helped smash the £100,000 barrier in less than three weeks to make dreams come true for seriously ill children.
A huge £117,000 has been raised for our Christmas appeal for the Make-A-Wish UK charity, which arranges magical experiences for youngsters who are bravely fighting cancer and other life-threatening conditions.
Tens of thousands of old £1 coins have been handed into branches of Nationwide Building Society as part of our Quids for Kids campaign.
Our generous readers have also donated thousands more direct to Make-A-Wish.
And there is still plenty more time to donate to the appeal which will help some of the 20,000 young people who are facing gruelling treatment and long periods spent in hospital over Christmas.
The old round pound coins went out of circulation last month – but they can still be exchanged at banks and post offices.
However, we are asking readers to instead donate any leftover £1 coins to the charity at any branch of Nationwide.
Just hand them to the cashier, stating that you wish to give them to the Mail’s Quids for Kids Make-A-Wish Foundation UK appeal.
Nationwide will take old £1 coins until December 20 and has kindly agreed to match all donations to the appeal at the building society up to £50,000. You can also donate directly to Make-A-Wish by cheque.
A string of celebrities have already backed the ‘brilliant’ campaign, including Simon Cowell, Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden and Strictly Come Dancing’s Shirley Ballas.
Make-A-Wish makes around 2,000 dreams a year come true for seriously ill children, includ- ing arranging for them to swim with dolphins, drive trains and even become ninja princesses for the day. Extra donations can be made in branches of Nationwide.
Jason Suckley, chief executive of Make-A-Wish, said: ‘On behalf of Make-AWish UK and the children whose wishes we grant, I’d like to say a huge thank you to the readers of the Daily Mail.
‘We are overwhelmed by your generosity! This is an incredible amount of money after just a few weeks of the Quids for Kids campaign. Almost 2,000 children facing a life-threatening condition will turn to us for a wish in 2017, many more than we have the resources to grant. ‘We want to reach every child. The money being raised through this campaign is a big step towards making this possible. Your support is making a huge difference to children’s lives. For that we are extremely grateful.’