NOTTINGHAM charity used a £20,000 donation from the prize draw company to send two families to Florida to celebrate the restarting of its Disney Wishes programme.
More young people with life-threatening illnesses will be given the opportunity to visit Walt Disney World in Florida, thanks in part to the success of a corporate partnership between Raffle House and children’s charity When You Wish Upon a Star.
The charity, which celebrated its 35th anniversary last year, grants wishes to children aged between four and 16 years who are living with a life-threatening or terminal illness.
Those who meet the qualifying criteria and are accepted for a wish can request anything they like, and the charity will aim to fulfil it, subject to a certain budget.
A trip to Walt Disney World in Florida is the most popular wish, and as the charity works in partnership with US charity Give Kids The World Village, it is able to fulfil these wishes within this budget, despite the usual cost of such a trip being much higher.
However, the pandemic had a lasting impact on the organisation’s ability to offer these trips, and it was only in January this year it was able to restart a regular Disney Wishes programme.
It was partially due to a £19,223 donation from Raffle House towards the end of last year that it was able to commit to relaunching the programme, which will send 20 children and their families to Florida this year.
In 2024, the charity entered into a partnership with Raffle House, a prize draw provider that gives away multimillion-pound homes and various other prizes. A portion of each Raffle House ticket goes to charity, and the company allows players to decide which of its charity partners they wish to direct the charitable donation portion of their entry to.
Last year was the first full year of the partnership, and towards the end of the year, it became clear 2025’s donation would be significantly higher than the previous year, as players were increasingly choosing When You Wish Upon a Star.
Joe Williamson, CEO at When You Wish Upon a Star, said:
“When You Wish Upon a Star is funded through fundraising events, community partners and legacies, so much of the charity’s revenue is non-recurring in nature, and this makes it difficult for us to plan ahead.
“Seeing the value of our partnership with Raffle House go from strength to strength and knowing it’s not only a stable income but growing year on year means we can count on at least seven wishes being covered from this partnership this year, hopefully even more.
“With another of our partners, ALB Giving, having committed to match funding 10 Disney Wishes in 2026, we felt confident the time was right to restart granting what has always been our most popular wish request.
“We decided to use £14,000 of the 2025 Raffle House funds for a special trip to relaunch the programme in November, taking two very deserving families who’d been hoping to make the trip for a long time. We wanted to show those players who’d been choosing our charity exactly how much that choice means.
“We also took along lifelong ambassadors Ellie Leach and Brooke Vincent to combine the relaunch of our Disney trips with a celebration of our very special 35th birthday.”
The first family on the trip was that of fifteen-year-old Stevie Taylor, who is living with Batten disease, a rare genetic neurological condition. With her 10-year-old sister, Jasmine, and her parents, Karen and Paul, they were guests on an all-inclusive 10-day trip that included three VIP days at Walt Disney World Resort and two days at Universal Orlando Resort.
The other family was that of six-year-old twins Edie and Ivie Cunningham, from Buxton, who were accompanied by parents Simone and Adam. The twins suffer from Rett syndrome, a rare neurological condition that affects only around 1 in every 10,000 girls born in the UK.
Williamson said there are many more children who are desperate to be granted the same wish if more money can be raised:
“There are 130,000 children eligible for a wish in the UK, and between the six wish-granting charities, we’re probably not even able to help 10% of those who are eligible each year. We’re keen to raise awareness further as there’s still huge unmet demand that we’d like to fill.”
Last year, the charity granted a total of 83 wishes, and it is aiming to increase this to 100 in 2026. It is currently the only wish-granting charity accepting applications for wishes for children to visit the Florida theme parks or Disneyland Paris with their families.
It also grants a wide range of other wishes, with popular requests including meeting celebrities, football players and other sports personalities. Children also sometimes ask for bedroom makeovers, esports gaming setups and technology that helps them interact with their friends while in hospital.
James Mieville, Executive Director at Raffle House, said:
“There are few charities that tug at the heartstrings as much as When You Wish Upon a Star. Seeing what a difference each individual wish can make to these children and their families has been eye-opening, and we hope our players continue to support such a worthwhile charity when playing with us.”
