Thomas Cook Children’s Charity hosted children from ‘Big Life Families’ on their first ever flight, the ‘Flight of Dreams’. The children helped to christen Thomas Cook Airlines first public flight of their brand new A321 in the new livery and Thomas Cook Children’s Charity unveiled a new logo and commitment to improving children’s lives.
On Wednesday 11th December, Christmas will come early for some lucky Manchester children thanks to the Thomas Cook Children’s Charity, Key 103’s Cash for Kids ‘Mission Christmas’ appeal and Thomas Cook Airlines.
The children – nominated by the Big Life Families’ Early Intervention Team – will take part in the Thomas Cook Children’s Charity annual ‘Flight of Dreams’ from Manchester Airport, on board Thomas Cook Airlines brand new A321 aircraft – the first in the airlines new livery.
The annual ‘Flight of Dreams’ offers children from disadvantage backgrounds or those with special educational needs and their families the chance to experience a truly magical and festive flight over the UK. Ensuring VIP treatment every step of the way, the children will enjoy entertainment at the airport before taking off on a one hour flight on board the brand new aircraft with a surprise visit from Santa, receiving a special gift with the help of Hamleys.
Joanna Wild, Chairperson of the Thomas Cook Children’s Charity said,
“We’re thrilled that we can offer this unforgettable experience to these children and their families, especially as they have never flown before. Today is a day of firsts all round as we’re also unveiling our new Charity logo, which symbolises the work we do to improve children’s lives and in some way benefit the communities in which they live.”
Over 100 children, along with members of their families and carers will board the specially-chartered flight with children from Medlock Primary School also joining those families nominated by the Greater Manchester Early Intervention team.
Big Life Families are being supported by Key 103’s ‘Mission Christmas’ project who have invited 50 of their families on board. ‘Mission Christmas’ is set to generate over £1m of gifts for families in poverty across the Manchester region.
Emma Brown, Charity Manager said,
‘’Our Mission Christmas appeal aspires to ensure that every child has a happy Christmas and we are thrilled to be working with Thomas Cook Children’s Charity to provide these families with an unforgettable memory at this special time of year.”
Big Life Families Assistant Director Jane Wishart added,
“We’re delighted that the families we work with are going to have an extra special Christmas this year, it’s once in a lifetime experience and they will share some very happy memories from this.”
As an extra special treat, the children will also help christen the aircraft with its new name, and be on board the very first public flight of the A321 which was handed over to Thomas Cook Airlines from Airbus last week.
Cor Vrieswijk, Chief Operating Officer for Thomas Cook Airlines added,
“It’s fantastic that such deserving children can help us celebrate the first flight of our new aircraft, and help us christen the new livery with the aircraft’s new name. It’s a very special day for our airlines and we’re very honoured to be able to share this on such a great occasion.”
Stephen Turner, Commercial Director at Manchester Airports Group (MAG) said,
“It’s great to see one of our airlines taking part in such a worthwhile initiative. We’re always keen to get involved and support on charitable work where possible, and I’m sure all the children will have a great flight on Thomas Cook’s brand new Airbus A321, which will soon be taking passengers all over the world once it enters service.”
In total there are three ‘Flight of Dreams’ taking place during December at Manchester, Newcastle and Gatwick airports. Thomas Cook Children’s Charity The Thomas Cook Children’s Charity was set up in 2009 and works to improve the lives of sick and disadvantaged children. It supports a variety of appeals and projects for children both in the UK and overseas. Money is raised by Thomas Cook employees through a range of activities including customer donations placed at the time of booking and unwanted foreign currency collected onboard flights and in retail stores, as well as employee fundraising.
Big Life Families’ Early Intervention Team works with Manchester families who are experiencing difficulties. The team provides one to one support to help families overcome difficulties at an early stage, and help prevent issues escalating. They help families identify their strengths, improve their confidence and gain control of difficult situations.
Big Life Families is part of the Big Life group of social businesses and charities, who work with people to create opportunities to change their lives.