Sunday 10th February was a great day for two special Aston Villa supporters from Calthorpe School, Birmingham. Levi and Joshua were invited along to Villa Park where they watched the game in style in the hospitality suite.
Both boys had an amazing time and the day was topped off with a great result 2-1 against West Ham!
A huge thank you goes to Aston Villa for helping us to make Levi and Joshua’s dream come true.
Finley had a dream of singing and dancing on a cruise liner. His dream came true when Saga Cruise Liners agreed to help.
With the help of Finley’s family it was kept a secret until the day. We arrived in Dover ready to greet Finley and his family. Also there were two special guests, Judy Challis and Deborah Kendill from Canterbury Christ Church University, who were involved with our Dream Catcher Day, and the pupils from Laleham Gap School. When Finley arrived with his family, he immediately noticed my Follow Your Dreams shirt and his teacher Natalie. Finley knew something was going on, evident by the big smile on his face. Straight away he asked why he was there.
We were joined by Carole Douglas, Senior Fleet HR Officer and to all our surprises we were taken on a guided tour of the Saga Sapphire. It was very exciting! Finley met the Captain Alistair McLundie and we were all taken to the bridge where Finley was allowed to put on Captain’s hat and sit in his chair. In the centre of the ship was an impressive art sculpture which was made entirely of metal fish.
The surprise was not over yet and finally Finley was told exactly why he was there; he was about to sing and dance with the on board entertainment team! Finley loves the Beatles and one of his favourite tracks is ‘Yesterday’. Unaware the team had already been told this, they had devised a routine and he was whisked away for rehearsals.
Later we were called back to watch the show and it was amazing. Finley loved every minute and after his performance he spoke to Carole and told her he “wants to be an Entertainments Manager aboard a Cruise Liner when he’s older”. Carole said, “Send me your CV when you’re older” – so we could perhaps have been looking at a future Saga Entertainer! Finley was presented with a plaque which is given by ships when they go into new ports. Carole explained, “This is very special as it is only normally given to other shipping ports”. Finley was thrilled. And the excitement didn’t stop there. We were then invited to lunch in the restaurant, and were spoilt; the food was fantastic!
The day finally came to an end as Carole escorted us off the ship. I think she thought we would try to stow away so she counted heads. Saga pulled out all the stops and were truly fantastic hosts.
Follow Your Dreams would like to extend a really big thank you to all at SAGA !!!
“To be an author” was Ellie’s dream. Ellie attended the Follow Your Dreams Road show in Swansea whilst she was at Ogmore Vale Primary School. Now a pupil at Ynysawdre Comprehensive in Bridgend, Follow Your Dreams arranged for Sally Humble Jackson, the author of The Miracle Maker – a child’s story of Jesus, to go along to the school and give Ellie some help in writing her own story.
As you can see from the wonderful photos, she had a truly fabulous time with Sally with lots of writing and doodling being done.
Lizzie who attends Bradfields School in Walderslade, was surprised one day when we took her fishing! We went to Buckland Lake Fishery and met Charlie Empett the Fishery Manager and Bob a Fly Fishing Tuitor. On arrival Lizzie was presented with her very own Fly Fishing rod and everything else she needed to fish.
Bob spent time with Lizzie going through the basics then finally time to fish, Lizzie was very excited and we were all waiting very patiently suddenly the cry came from Lizzie and low and behold she had caught a trout. Lizzie was able to take the trout home, her Nan Margaret said she would cook it for her.
Lizzie had a lovely day and smiled all day, her teachers have since said that Lizzie hasn’t stopped talking about it.
Dreams came true for three youngsters and their friends today – Iwan from St Cenydd School, Caerphilly who “wanted to meet some reptiles”, Shannon from Greenfields School in Merthyr that “wanted to be a vet” and Jonathan from Greenfields School in Merthyr who “wanted to meet a meerkat”.
Follow Your Dreams arranged for the Cardiff Reptile Centre to pay a surprise visit to St Cenydd School in Caerphilly, who brought with them a mixture of reptiles and amphibians from a small white tree frog to a massive 15 foot burmese python! there were also a variety of bugs like hissing cockroaches and tarantulas, but the star of the show was Mia, a meerkat! Mia found her way into the lap of Jonathan where she would have been quite contented to settle down for a sleep after eating her breakfast of live locusts!
Iwan’s classmates also shared in his dream experience and they all thoroughly enjoyed the interactive session which allowed them to touch and hold the creatures, while learning about the creatures diets and natural habitat. Each child was also presented with a goodie bag to remember the occasion which included a toy meerkat!
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