Winter Wonderland in Settle
Back in 2014 Molly, a young girl living with her mum Carole and brother Jack, became unwell. Doctors were not able to identify the cause of her illness but she spent a number of weeks including Christmas, in hospital. While she was there her Carole was by her side almost all of the time. It meant that her brother Jack needed to go to live with his grandma. The family were apart during most of Christmas even though Carole tried to spend her time spilt between both of them.
Thankfully Molly did recover, but because of her illness, she missed many weeks of school while she was getting better. She is still having physiotherapy to try to strengthen her arms which have been permanently affected by her illness.
This year it looked like the family were just starting to sort their lives out and get back on their feet.
But in the summer of 2016, Jack was the victim of a serious assault which left him with not only with serious physical injuries but also emotional trauma and a prolonged stay in hospital. Again Carole had to split her time between them both but this was another very traumatic time for the whole family.
As if the assault was not enough to deal with, the family had to move away from their home. It was felt that there was too high a risk to them and their safety after the assault on Jack.
So the family had to move to a new village. Even though it was better in some ways for the family, they don’t know anyone there. Their support networks are many miles away and with very limited public transport links, their life was in turmoil.
Carole could no longer get to work and there was no one they knew in the new area to give any emotional support during this very difficult time for their family. Leaving her job meant that Carole had to give up the families only source of income.
Their whole world has been turned upside down; a different house, a different school, no family, no friends and no income from work. The last two years have been very challenging for the family and it seems to be a very long journey to finding happiness and peace for the family. They have been feeling very alone and cut off from everything they once knew. There seemed to be very little to look forward to this Christmas.
People we serve and ubu team members in Settle, on the borders of Yorkshire and Cumbria heard about the family’s story and wanted to bring some sparkle and light into the lives of Carole, Jack and Mollie this Christmas. They decided to give the family a ‘Winter Wonderland Experience’.
Carole, Jack and Mollie were given a family ticket and their transport arranged to go to Winter Wonderland in Manchester which is the UK’s largest indoor Christmas Theme park. There are rides and a variety of events including mini panto, and circus, all are included. The family were very excited when people we serve handed over their Christmas sparkle gift and looking forward to their treat.
