30th August 2015

For those who didn't read my blog last year let me explain the reasons for this adventure.

For the past eleven years I have been a volunteer for the wonderful charity Make A Wish UK, a charity that provides wishes for children aged between 3 and 17 years of age who are suffering from life threatening illnesses. These children are allowed one wish from the charity and their wish comes from one of the following categories 1. To go. 2. To be 3. To meet 4. To own  5. To experience. Take a look at www.makeawish.org.uk for more information about the charity where you can read of the wonderful work they do for not just the child who is poorly but for their whole family, providing cherished memories for them all.

The most popular wish was to visit Disney in Florida, approximately 80% in fact chose this and unfortunately from January last year the charity have had to stop the  Florida wishes so that they were able to grant even more wishes to who children that were put forward for a wish. Wishes to Disney are still granted but now they go to Disney, Paris instead and if it is a swim with dolphins wish the child can go to Portugal.

Give Kids The World was opened in 1989 by a Mr Henri Landwirth, a Belgian Jew who was himself a survivor of concentration camps during Hitlers reign of terror, including Autszwich . Henri arrived in the US on a cargo ship with $20 to his name and worked his way up the hospitality hotel business from the lowest menial job to eventually owning the hotels. At one point in his career he was asked to help fulfil a very ill child's dream to go to Disney, they were not quick enough and the child died before the wish could be granted. Henri swore then that he would do his best not to let that happen again as so GKTW came into existence. There is so much to write about this man and I would recommend reading his book The Gift of Life to find out more and to look at www.givekidstheworld.org. 

Now for those who know me, Allan, my husband since his retirement in 2003 has an annual adventure, a trek somewhere in the world which entails lots of 'roughing it', now being a 5* lady I decline to join in his trips - okay I also don't do tents or digging holes to go to the loo either so GKTW is my adventure and I love it.