24th October 2013
Well, it is almost here - what you might ask?
In two days time I will be leaving the UK to travel to Orlando International Airport the start of my three weeks volunteering at Give Kids The World in Kissimmee, Florida.
Why?
Well since 2004 I have been a volunteer for the wonderful charity Make A Wish UK, a charity that provides wishes for children suffering from life threatening illnesses. One of my roles as a volunteer is to visit children that have been nominated for a wish to determine what there wish might be, what they might like to own, what they might like to experience, who they might like to meet, where would they like to go, who would they like to be.
As Wish Visitors we must be sure that this is the child's wish and not Mum or Dads or their brothers or sisters and we ask the child to put their wishes in order of preference and write a report to send to the Head Office of Make A Wish UK which is based in Camberley, Surrey.
The wonderful people at MAW then do their amazing best to grant these wishes but of course this is all dependant on medical agreement and the amount of funds that can be raised.
Please have a look at www.makeawish.org.uk for lots more information.
So I have still not really answered the question why?
A lot of our children, if they are able, do want to go to Disney, Florida. A lot of grown ups would like this too, I am sure. Now there is a charity called Give Kids The World in Kissimmee which welcomes our children and their families, I knew about this but I read about the role of an 'Angel' - the name give to their volunteers, by another volunteer called Carolyn that made me decide to 'just go do it'!'
My husband had already booked to go to Nepal trekking with some of his friends so I decided that this was the ideal time to go and be an 'Angel'. I applied, was accepted and then I got on with organising accommodation ,car hire ,flights etc. Everything fell in to place,
The main concern for me I must admit is the driving - they do drive on the wrong side of the road after all! Did we have a solution, well yes of course, we had 4 week trip planned to the USA where we were doing a lot of driving so I wax able to get some practise in with my husband Allan in the car too. This did not go quite as much to plan as we had hoped - he got too nervous and I must admit my confidence slipped a little, but I am sure that once there I will be fine!!!! I have also found a car hire company called Car on the Drive which will pick me up from the airport and my car will be waiting for me at the villa - perfect,
I was of course hoping that someone else might enjoy this opportunity too and now I am so pleased that an old (she will hate that bit!) school friend of mine, Jane is coming for 10 of my 20 days so Florida beware!!
More tomorrow.
Lorna aka Angel,
Well, it is almost here - what you might ask?
In two days time I will be leaving the UK to travel to Orlando International Airport the start of my three weeks volunteering at Give Kids The World in Kissimmee, Florida.
Why?
Well since 2004 I have been a volunteer for the wonderful charity Make A Wish UK, a charity that provides wishes for children suffering from life threatening illnesses. One of my roles as a volunteer is to visit children that have been nominated for a wish to determine what there wish might be, what they might like to own, what they might like to experience, who they might like to meet, where would they like to go, who would they like to be.
As Wish Visitors we must be sure that this is the child's wish and not Mum or Dads or their brothers or sisters and we ask the child to put their wishes in order of preference and write a report to send to the Head Office of Make A Wish UK which is based in Camberley, Surrey.
The wonderful people at MAW then do their amazing best to grant these wishes but of course this is all dependant on medical agreement and the amount of funds that can be raised.
Please have a look at www.makeawish.org.uk for lots more information.
So I have still not really answered the question why?
A lot of our children, if they are able, do want to go to Disney, Florida. A lot of grown ups would like this too, I am sure. Now there is a charity called Give Kids The World in Kissimmee which welcomes our children and their families, I knew about this but I read about the role of an 'Angel' - the name give to their volunteers, by another volunteer called Carolyn that made me decide to 'just go do it'!'
My husband had already booked to go to Nepal trekking with some of his friends so I decided that this was the ideal time to go and be an 'Angel'. I applied, was accepted and then I got on with organising accommodation ,car hire ,flights etc. Everything fell in to place,
The main concern for me I must admit is the driving - they do drive on the wrong side of the road after all! Did we have a solution, well yes of course, we had 4 week trip planned to the USA where we were doing a lot of driving so I wax able to get some practise in with my husband Allan in the car too. This did not go quite as much to plan as we had hoped - he got too nervous and I must admit my confidence slipped a little, but I am sure that once there I will be fine!!!! I have also found a car hire company called Car on the Drive which will pick me up from the airport and my car will be waiting for me at the villa - perfect,
I was of course hoping that someone else might enjoy this opportunity too and now I am so pleased that an old (she will hate that bit!) school friend of mine, Jane is coming for 10 of my 20 days so Florida beware!!
More tomorrow.
Lorna aka Angel,
