Heidi goes to Lapland for When You Wish Upon a Star

Heidi has been visiting Santa Claus at Rovaniemie,

Lapland with 102 Children with When you Wish Upon A 

Star

heidirange ‏@Heidi_range

Santa's little helper in Lapland x

When You Wish Upon a Star

At 5am on Wednesday morning, 102 children arrived at Manchester Airport to the beautiful voices of the airport’s very own choir. Very visible were mascots Moonchester and Fred the Red, Disney Characters, 10ft toy soldiers on stilts, Cracker

 the new mascot from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue, Eddie the Edgehog, and all the characters from Gulliver’s World who all came to wave the children off for their very special flight to Lapland. The children were greeted and personally welcomed aboard by pilot Captain Kirk.
-19 degrees didn’t deter the children one little bit as they arrived at the frozen, snowy ‘Enchanted Forest’ in Rovaniemi. They were all soon bombing down the ice slides, driving the skidoos, and shrieking at the high speed of the husky rides, and being gently pulled along by beautiful reindeer on their sleigh. After hot chocolate, toasted marshmallows and sausages around the roaring fire, it was time for a few Christmassy lullabies from Sue Cleaver, Richard Arnold, Will Mellor, Nikki Sanderson, Rachel Shenton, Karen Hassan, Iain Stirling, Heidi Range, Saracen, Tricia Penrose and Marcus Collins and Jade Ellis.. ahhhh!!
The most magical part of the day is watching all the children sitting on Santa’s knee, excitedly whispering their Christmas list, as parents proudly watched with a huge smile, and always an escaping tear, as their child receives their very special gift from Santa..
After a visit to Santa’s village, and lots of presents bought for all the loved ones back home, it was time to say goodbye to the magical home of Santa and the very beautiful snowy Lapland.
Wow, what a truly fantastic day! The Northwest ‘Wish’ team would like to thank all our amazing and dedicated volunteers and medics, who give up their time and skills every year, to make this magical trip possible. Together we believe that wishes can come true, and make faces light up, smiles are priceless, and last forever.
Thank you to all our amazing parents for sharing your very inspirational and adorable children with us, and helping us create such a memorable and magical day. XxX

Report about Lapland Trip that the Sugababes went on

http://www.whenyouwishuponastar.org.uk/

http://www.make-a-wish.org.uk/

Saughall six-year-old with leukaemia goes on Christmas trip to Lapland

Dec 23 2010 By Paul Mannion, Chester Chronicle

Jack Ford

A SIX-YEAR-OLD suffering from leukaemia enjoyed a once- in-a-lifetime trip to meet Santa at Lapland.
Saughall All Saints pupil Jack Ford, of Vernon Close, Saughall, who is undergoing treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, was whisked away on a magical journey to meet Santa at his Arctic Circle home earlier this month.
“It was amazing to see him so happy and forgetting about everything,” said Jack’s mum, Kathy, 35, a pharmacy worker.
“It really was fun, you’re there to forget and have as much fun as possible.

“The whole day was amazing from start to finish.
“Seeing Jack’s face when he got to meet Santa, watching him on the Snowmobiles, having a sleigh ride through the enchanted forest and having all the fun a six year old could have. It was a once in a life time thing.”
Jack has battled leukaemia since he was diagnosed in January. He is due to start his next course of treatment on Wednesday.
“We were told if we hadn’t got the treatment within two weeks it might be different, and within four weeks, he wouldn’t be here,” added Kathy, who is married to Graham 45, and has two other children, Chelsea, 16, and Jade aged 12.
“We take every day as it comes, we’re very grateful Jack’s with us because a lot of people are worse off.
“We just enjoy every day and deal with it as it comes.
“He’s amazing, he’s so happy.
“He’s the life and soul, bouncing about, laughing and joking with his mates.
“We’re all really proud.
“He has to take medicine which he’s never really had to do before and have injections that don’t make him feel well.
“He gets very tired easily and can’t walk that far.
“He can’t go into crowded places, like play centres.
“We try to make it as fun as possible but it’s changed a lot of the things he would like to do, like running about or playing sport.
“We’ll have to see for a year, the steroids got rid of most it but it’s ongoing.”
Despite severe side effects from his treatment for the illness, and a central line to his chest to receive medicines, Jack still regularly attends the Church Road school.
“It’s really important to be with his friends and keep up with them,” said Kathy.
“It can be very difficult, with the treatment Jack gets very tired so we don’t take him on those days, but the school have been absolutely brilliant, if there’s any thing going around the school they ring us in the morning.
“You have to keep things as normal as possible.
“It’s important that we don’t treat Jack any differently.
Jack joined about 94 children, aged from 2-to-16, suffering from life threatening illnesses, thanks to the When You Wish Upon a Star charity.
Stars from fictional Chester based soap Hollyoaks, Holby City, Coronation Street and the SugaBabes also joined the annual flight to the Arctic Circle.
Charity spokesperson Sue Hickling said: “This is an amazing day for the children, one they will truly never forget.
“If people could see just how brave these youngsters are and what they have to put up with on an almost daily basis, they would be absolutely amazed.”

http://www.whenyouwishuponastar.org.uk/

http://www.make-a-wish.org.uk/

Sugababes in Lapland for Make a Wish Foundation Updated

The Sugababes left Manchester very early this morning to fly to Lapland . Before taking off, Jade had a close encounter with a Turkey !

Once the Sugababes had landed Amelle and Heidi tweeted and sent this photo from Lapland

Amelle then said the trip was for Make A Wish Foundation and that there were so many excited Kids there waiting to see Santa Claus . Oh yes and Amelle was "Soooooo excited!!!!xxxx"

Latest news from the Sugababes in Lapland


JadeEwen : Eek it's all so magical!!

 

JadeEwen : Aww just met Santa and the elves!

 

Amelle_berrabah : Rudolf!!

 

JadeEwen :Ahhh.. Beautiful! So much snow :)

JadeEwen : Which one is it? Rudolph? 

JadeEwen : Me and a husky!! :) 

 

JadeEwen : Doing some shopping now! :)

Amelle_berrabah : We've had such an amazing time!! Xxx




Now some very beautiful photos from Jade of Santas Village 

JadeEwen : Merry Christmas!!
 

 

Amelle_berrabah : Turkey any1? Lol! Hehe.xxx

 Heidi_range : We have had such an amazing day with some really amazing people. On our way to the airport now to come home. The real santa rocks! X

More later ~ JadeEwenFan

Jade Ewen Tweets about Harry Potter and Lapland

Jade Tweeted earlier today that she was having a relaxing night out eating at Nandos and then going to see Harry Potter . When she returned she Tweeted :

JadeEwen : LOVED Harry Potter this evening!!

Then her next tweet was :

JadeEwen: Packing for Lapland going over to meet some very sick children :( hope to make them smile! now to find clothes suitable for minus 15degrees!

Looking forward to seeing some photos from Santa Claus land see some info below where Jade is going ...

FELL LANDSCAPES AND CULTURE

Lapland offers its visitors four seasons that very distinctly differ from one another. Spring, summer, autumn, and the winter that takes up half the year provide you with the very best travel experiences when you take an open mind and clothing suitable for the time of year. Landscapes typical for Lapland other than the grand fell sceneries are the aapa bogs rich with birdlife, various hilly regions and expansive river waterways. The most common and best known animal is the reindeer that is an essential part of Lappish nature.

Lappish culture is a mixture of influences from every direction. The cultures of the neighbouring regions of Sweden, Finland, Norway and Russia have greatly influenced the Sámi culture and Finnishness. The cultural differences between Lapland’s different regions are rather significant. The Swedish influenced West Lapland district is worlds apart from the Sámi culture of North Lapland with completely different language and traditions.

Lapland belongs to a continental climatic zone characterised by snowy winters and relatively warm summers. The four seasons of Lapland distinctly differ from one another, from the wintertime period of harsh freezing temperatures and a few hours of daylight to the springtime with great ski slope conditions and the summertime with the Midnight Sun and autumn with its vibrant autumnal ruska period.  How about downhill or cross-country skiing on guaranteed snow cover, or perhaps a sensory awakening with a dip in an ice pool? Would you prefer a long canoeing trip in the sunshine, or maybe a trek through the vibrantly coloured ruska countryside? These are all given to you by Lapland’s spectacularly different four seasons. 

 TOP TEN ATTRACTIONS

TOP 10 ATTRACTIONS

	Arktikum Arktikum offers people of all ages interesting adventures focused around the nature and culture of the North... » Read more
	Ranua Wildlife Park Ranua Wildlife Park is Santa’s own wildlife park. It is home to around 60 species of wild animals small and large... » Read more
	Salla Reindeer Park The main building of the Reindeer Park houses the Forest Hall Exhibition, predator display and visiting art exhibitions... » Read more
	Siida Siida is the home of the Sámi Museum, Northern Lapland Nature Centre and Restaurant Sarrit. With its cultural and nature exhibitions, a meeting place and an exhibition center... » Read more
	Pentik-mäki Pentik Mäki is a renowned cultural and shopping tourism complex in Posio... » Read more
	Snowcastle The Kemi SnowCastle is an annual demonstration of snow-castle building skill and proof of the creative madness and innovation native of Kemi... » Read more
	Santa Claus Village Cross the magical Arctic Circle, dine in the restaurants and browse the souvenir shops or go on an adventure... » Read more
	Icebreaker Sampo Sense the power of the Sampo Icebreaker when it pushes its way through an ice cover take a dip in the freezing cold sea... » Read more
	Lainio SnowVillage Imagine a village, built entirely of snow and ice and rebuilt every year with different architectural themes... » Read more
	Amethyst Mine The Lappish amethyst, with its various shades of violet, is classified as a gemstone... » Read more