Step into wonderland at the Purple Heart Wishes charity ball

The Wonderland themed evening takes place on Saturday 26th April.

Purple Heart Wishes is a charity that grants wishes to adults, ages 18-55, who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness.

On Saturday 26^th April they will be taking over Smokies in Oldham for their Wonderland themed charity ball, to raise funds for Purple Heart Wishes.

The charity was set up in memory of Lyndsey, in 2009 Lyndsey went for a routine contact lens check-up and insisted on having an eye test as she kept getting headaches.

She was rushed to Manchester Eye Hospital with a suspected papilledema, and a week later was diagnosed with a stage 1 brain tumour.

Lyndsey went through an operation to remove the rumour; she was then found to have a stage 2 brain tumour and underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy and was given the news that her tumour had gone in December 2011.

On Easter weekend 2012, Lyndsey’s symptoms returned, she visited the hospital and sadly had an untreatable stage 4 brain tumour.

Susan Roughton, founder of the charity and Lyndsey’s mum told us why they started the charity: “when we found out that her tumour was terminal, we decided that every day that we had left we were going to fill it with things that she’d never done before, like riding on the back of a motorbike, going horse riding, that she was never going to get to fulfil any other way.

“One of her biggest bucket list things to do was to go and visit Thailand, so we raised a lot of money to send her there and she survived another 18 months, even though I was told she won’t come back.

“After two years of mourning, I said to my family why don’t we do this for other people, grant them wishes and let them make memories with their family and friends.”

Purple Heart Wishes host a variety of fundraising events to help grant the wishes of those diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Emma Jones is one of the trustees and volunteers at Purple Heart Wishes, she got involved with the charity after she met Sue at a networking group: “We both became members at quite a similar time, and we just struck up a friendship. I got involved as a volunteer, and it just kind of snowballed from there.

“I’m involved in quite a lot of the events that they do; I’ve put on some events myself for them, and I just try to help them out as much as I can.”

The Wonderland Ball sounds like it is going to be an incredible night with the Mad Hatter even being in attendance on the night.

Stilt walkers will be guiding guest into the event, as well as Matrix Circus performing dressed as the Cheshire Cat.

Along side all of the entertainment, there will be a combination code competition and a raffle.

The event will feature a Mad Hatter’s tea party table, which will be dressed Wonderland themed with all the desserts on.

The aim of the charity ball is to raise more awareness about the charity: “One of the things that we do struggle with is people come to us way too late, so awareness is a really big thing for us.

“Sometimes people of the age group that we work with don’t want to admit that this wish could be their last. Like with Lyndsey two weeks before she died, they said to her you’re really poorly and she was like yeah but I’m going to get better, and I knew in my heart that that wasn’t going to happen.”

Susan told us that friends and family can apply for a wish on behalf of someone suffering from terminal illness: “People think that it’s not going to happen to them, and it does. So, we want to reach out to like the families and friends and the hospices, to get them to come forward and ask for a wish on their behalf, so they don’t have to say it.”

Purple Heart Wishes is also always looking for volunteers to help out with events and fundraisers, even if it is just once a month.

You can find out more about the charity and how to get involved at https://www.purpleheartwishes.org/

Tickets for the Wonderland Charity Ball at Smokies in Oldham are available at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/purple-heart-wishes-wonderland-ball-tickets-1108632412389