UNITED KINGDOM / AGILITYPR.NEWS / April 29, 2021 / NEW RESEARCH SHOWS 63,000 ELIGIBLE FOR WISHES

Celebrities back campaign to create hope this World Wish Day - video available

The number of children in the UK who are eligible for a wish has doubled in the last 15 years, and it's increasing, according to research commissioned by the children's charity Make-A-Wish UK and released to mark World Wish Day on 29th April.

Right now, there are 63,296 children and young people in the UK who have been diagnosed with a life-threatening or life-limiting condition.

In England alone, that number could rise from 53,472 in 2018/19 to as many as 73,273 by 2030.

The research*, by a team based primarily at the University of York, also showed that these critical conditions are more prevalent in children aged three to seven; in Pakistani communities; in areas of high deprivation; in the North of England and are 10% more common in boys. The most prevalent of those conditions is neurological, following by respiratory.

To meet this increased need, alongside the backlog of wishes waiting due to Covid-19 restrictions, Make-A-Wish is asking the public to help them create hope for these children by donating this World Wish Day, and beyond.

The charity is also adapting its working model to enable communities of volunteers to help grant wishes in their local area, or within their networks. Make-A-Wish has created an online Wish Map so that anyone can see where there’s a wish waiting near them and help to grant it where possible.

Celebrity supporters Stephen Mulhern, Mo Gilligan, Saffron Barker, Bear Grylls, Hannah Cockroft and Millie Bright are backing the campaign, and have talked to wish children to find out more about the impact of illness, and the hope that wishes create. 

In one of those recorded online meets, Stephen Mulhern performed a magic trick – turning a £5 note into £50 - and was given a Catchphrase clue to decipher by wish child Griff Crowther, 12, from North Wales.

29th April every year marks the anniversary of the day the first wish in the world was granted - in the USA in 1980. Make-A-Wish UK was established by a group of six volunteers in 1986.

A wish creates hope because, in the words of Leeds student Jakob, who is waiting for his wish to have a bespoke guitar to be granted: “Hearing that I could have a wish was just the best feeling in the world... Knowing that someone acknowledged my pain; someone saw my pain; someone heard about my pain, and they were willing to help me out and make me feel good about my life was just the best.”

 To help create hope this World Wish Day, donate it, activate it or bake it by visiting https://www.make-a-wish.org.uk/get-involved/world-wish-day-2021/ and follow the charity on social media @makeawishuk  

NOTES:

• A compilation video featuring virtual meets between the celebrities and wish children involved in the campaign and individual wish children is available on request & will be broadcast on the Make-A-Wish Facebook and YouTube channels at 7pm on 29th April along with other content.

• *The report “Estimating Current and Future Prevalence of Children and Young People who would be eligible for the Make-A-Wish Foundation” was published in November 2020 with research by Deborah Gibson-Smith, Stuart Jarvis & Lorna Fraser from Martin House Research Centre, Department of Health Sciences, University of York & by Paul Norman from the School of Geography, University of Leeds.

• The Wish Map is available at: https://www.make-a-wish.org.uk/wishes/wish-map/

• We do not use the phrase ‘terminally ill’ and ask that you follow suit because some poorly children and young people are not made aware of the exact nature of their diagnosis, and we respect their family’s approach to their situation. Some young people we support also recover from their illness.

• Please refer to us as Make-A-Wish® UK in the first instance to distinguish us from affiliates in other countries and hyperlink to our website when you mention the charity online: www.make-a-wish.org.uk