Dreams come true with dream factory and intu lakeside

On Tuesday 24th March, intu Lakeside announced that The Dream Factory will be the centre’s 2015 charity of the year. To celebrate turning 25 years old in October, staff, retailers and customers are planning to raise £25,000 for the charity and the money raised will help make dreams come true for children with life threatening conditions and severe disabilities.
Two of The Dream Factory’s patrons, Vicki Michelle MBE and Colin Mcmillan attended the special launch event along with some of the charity’s volunteers, two trustees and two dream families. These families have had firsthand experience of what a difference The Dream Factory can make on a young person’s life – Aiden Boland, aged 21, who suffers from Costello Syndrome and is wheelchair bound, had his dream granted to meet his favourite WWF wrestlers at Wembley, whilst the charity fulfilled 16 year old Hope Fenton’s dream of having a spa bath in her home. Hope is blind, in a wheelchair and also suffers from Hydrocephlus.
Avril Mills started the charity in 2008 in memory of her son Oliver, who died of Leukaemia aged 9. Avril’s aim was to brighten the lives of young people aged between the ages of 3 and 25 with life limiting or life threatening conditions, or who suffer from severe disabilities. Since starting the charity, Avril and her dedicated team (who are mostly volunteers) have so far helped to make over 300 dreams come true, including everything from family trips to Disneyland Paris, to gifting new games consoles. Patrons of The Dream Factory include, among others, Lisa-Marie Presley, Harry Redknapp, Pasty Palmer and Ray Winstone, who all work hard to support the charity.
“All of us at intu Lakeside are thrilled to be working with The Dream Factory this year,” explains Donna Callandar, Marketing Manager, intu Lakeside. “Over the course of the year we will hold fundraising events and initiatives to help fulfill the wishes of a number of young people. We will share news and stories of the work carried out by The Dream Factory and inspire our wonderful visitors to get involved in any way that they can. I have no doubt that we will be able to raise our target amount of money for such an incredible charity.”
Avril Mills, Founder of The Dream Factory, comments: “We are delighted to be chosen as intu Lakeside’s charity of the year and we’re really excited to start working with them. We rely totally on donations from the public to help make everlasting memories for very ill young people and their families, and through this incredible partnership with intu Lakeside we hope to make even more dreams come true!”