Little girl’s caravan holiday dream inspires company to back can-do charity

One little girl’s dream of going to the seaside and sleeping in a caravan has moved our CEO Ginny Murphy so profoundly that she’s stepped in to help - and is making the organisation that grants similar wishes our official charity for next year.

As dreams go, it’s a modest one, but for young Amelia, it would be a chance to momentarily forget the string of operations she’s had to endure since birth and to have one of those holidays she’s only ever seen other people enjoying on TV.

Attached permanently to a ventilator, Amelia’s early hopes of a holiday were dashed by successive lockdowns, the need to isolate, and furlough arrangements that left her family unable to afford a much-needed break.

“We’ve never managed to get away and have a family holiday together due to Amelia being in hospital from birth and the struggle it is to move her ventilator,” her mother says.

“We’d always planned a staycation in a caravan near a beach where there’d be enough electricity in the caravan to run Amelia’s ventilator.

“It’s her dearest wish to go to the seaside and sleep in a caravan, and every time she sees a holiday on TV, she asks when we can have one.

“A short time away after such a rough year would give Amelia a change of scenery away from hospital and do our family the world of good.

“it would be great for our son Harry, too, who helps look after his sister despite his own special needs.

“Making memories on holiday would be really special for Amelia - just amazing.”

Amelia’s story only came to the attention of Ginny, The Wheel Specialist’s founder and CEO, by chance.

She was attending the launch of a restaurant when a representative of the charity The Genie’s Wish gave a presentation.

“It made me stop and think,” says Ginny. “People have such terrible things to deal with, and the presentation made me realise how blessed I am to have two healthy children.

“To think that that little girl, Amelia, just wants to stay in a caravan by the seaside. It isn’t asking a lot.”

Ginny, a former nurse with a better understanding than most of the many medical complications afflicting Amelia’s young life, was deeply moved by what she heard and discussed it later with Managing Director of The Wheel Specialist.

“We both thought ‘Let’s do this’,” says Ginny. “We want to help Amelia and hopefully do much more in the future with this relatively new charity.

“It’s something we believe our network of franchisees will want to get behind next year, so we are excited in exploring that possibility. Wheels for wishes immediately came to mind with helping to grant wishes for children, Young Carers and adults up to the age of 40 in their local areas.”

If you’d like to know more about The Genie’s Wish, visit their website