BTCC teams help grant extra wishes

ROCKINGHAM provided a fantastic day out for four special VIP guests and their families at the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship yesterday (Sunday, April 13).

The children were invited to the Northamptonshire circuit by Make-A-Wish Foundation® UK, which has been adopted by Rockingham as its national charity for 2008.

Make-A-Wish grants magical wishes for children and young people fighting life-threatening illnesses. Founded in the UK in 1986, it has granted over 4,700 wishes.

Five-year-old Jack from Derby, and his brother Noah, three, have primary hyperoxaluria. Noah has received a wonderful Ninetendo Wii for his wish and Jack would like to go to Disney World, and is waiting for his special wish to be granted.

Ellen Pearson, 12, of Stevenage has a brain tumour. For her special wish, she wanted to be a zoo keeper for the day at Monkey World. This has been granted and she had a brilliant day and got to meet loads of monkeys and look after them for the day.

Kevin, 15, from St Albans has the condition neurofibromatosis, which is a genetic disorder causing tumours to grow. He would like to see a Boeing A380 and have flying lessons. His special wish has not been granted yet but is on its way to being finalised.

The youngsters received full VIP treatment with five-star hospitality in one of Rockingham’s exclusive corporate suites and were invited to meet some of the teams and given exclusive access to the pit garages.

Jack, Noah, Ellen and Kevin received plenty of goodies and met the drivers of Robertshaw Racing, In-Tune Racing, Arkas Racing with Sunshine.co.uk, Team Air Cool, John Guest Racing, SEAT, TH Motorsport and Team RAC.

Rockingham Marketing Manager, Cat Lund, said: “We are really pleased to be able to offer the youngsters and their families VIP hospitality. We hope that the day created some happy memories for them and their families.”

Volunteers from Make-A-Wish were also at Rockingham to raise money for the charity so more wishes for children fighting life-threatening illnesses can be granted. They raised just over £1000 including direct debit supporters.

Natalie Martin-Loat, Eastern England Regional Manager for Make-A-Wish said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank both Rockingham and all of the staff and teams who allowed our children to have a special day.

“I would also like to thank all of the people who chose to support Make-A-Wish and make a donation to such a wonderful charity.”

      Make-A-Wish grants magical wishes to children and young people fighting life-threatening illnesses. The charity was founded in the UK in 1986. www.make-a-wish.org.uk


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