Over the past few months, Rays of Sunshine have continued to bring sunshine and smiles to seriously and terminally ill children and their families.

 

From delivering 3,000 teddy bears to hospitals across the UK and organising special treats for every child who had their wish postponed due to COVID, to hosting virtual Sunshine Sessions and granting magical at-home wishes, the team have been working hard to find new ways of bringing joy and happiness to our beneficiaries at this especially difficult time.

“Thanks to  fantastic supporters like bacta, we have been able to adapt our services in line with government restrictions to ensure we are able to continue providing precious and much-needed moments of escape for brave and deserving young people and their families, giving them the opportunity to forget the fear and uncertainty of the last few months, even if only for a short while,” says Sarah May Kershaw, Head of PR for the charity.

Highlights include:

• Milo’s magical Marvel wish

Back in October, Rays of Sunshine granted five-year-old Milo’s wish to have an iPad delivered to his house by his favourite superhero, Captain America. After the wish, Milo’s mum said: “That was just amazing and he was so happy. I really can’t thank you guys enough for this – it’s been an amazing experience for Milo and all of us.”

• Sunshine Session with Gareth Malone

Earlier this month, choirmaster extraordinaire and wonderful Rays of Sunshine ambassador helped bring music and smiles to seriously ill children as he hosted a virtual session for our 2020 Children’s Choir. The Choir, made up of children who have all previously had a wish granted with Rays of Sunshine, were thrilled to have such a special guest join them. They had a chance to ask some questions and were taught some serious singing skills.

• National Teddy Bear Day

Rays of Sunshine celebrated National Teddy Bear Day in style this year by delivering 3,000 BeMyBear teddies to seriously ill children in hospitals across the UK. Following the cancellation of our Hospital Activity Days, the need to spread sunshine to children in hospital was greater than ever, and Rays of Sunshine were able to provide 3,000 children in over 20 different hospitals with their very own teddy bear to build and keep forever.

“We are so grateful for the support of bacta and its members, which has enabled Rays of Sunshine to continue brightening the lives of seriously ill children and their families across the UK at time when they need it more than ever,” concludes Sarah May.

“Bacta members have raised over half a million pounds for Rays of Sunshine since 1991 and the charity has always had a special place in our hearts,” says Chairman of the bacta Charitable Trust, Jimmy Thomas. “We are so pleased to hear of the good work that has been going on at this awful time to make the lives of these sick children and their families happier. We look forward to resuming our fundraising efforts in earnest once we are allowed to gather together once more.”

If anyone would like to donate to Rays of Sunshine, they can contact the bacta offices.

 

About bacta:

Bacta represents the owners and operators of seaside amusement arcades, over-18 amusement centres, and the companies that hire machines to pubs, clubs, bowling alleys, bingo halls and similar venues. It also represents the manufacturers and distributors of all types of amusement equipment. This can range from children’s rides, to jukeboxes, fruit machines in pubs and clubs, crane grabbers, penny falls, tuppeny nudgers, test your strength machines, videos, pool tables and gaming machines