Children relive holiday of a lifetime with Dreamflight and ODEON

Dreamflight, a charity that takes children with an illness or disability on the holiday of a lifetime to Orlando, held a VIP screening at ODEON, The Red Dragon Centre, to showcase clips of their most recent trip.

Founded in 1986, the charity takes 192 children with a serious illness or disability on the life-changing experience every year, along with a volunteer team of doctors, nurses and helpers to take care of the children for 10 days, allowing them to experience independence and gain a new outlook.

On their recent trip, the children were able to visit many iconic theme parks including Universal Studios and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, before every child swam with dolphins at Discovery Cove.

The holiday is captured on camera by a Dreamflight volunteer and a 90 minute film is created for the children as a keepsake, with a viewing held for the children and their families.

This year, ODEON at The Red Dragon Centre in Cardiff Bay held the VIP screening for the eighth time, donating the private screening and snacks for the 100 guests. The group also visited Hollywood Bowl in the Centre afterwards.

Gillian Ticehurst, the Dreamflight group leader, said: “We’re so grateful to ODEON for holding the VIP screening, so that the children can relive the trip with their loved ones. This film and the trip experience will be such a wonderful memory for the children and families.

“This holiday was our first to Florida after the pandemic and it was exactly what the children needed after being isolated for so long with their conditions and treatments. We can’t wait for next year’s trip, so that we can give another set of children this fabulous treat.”

Emma Constantinou, marketing manager at The Red Dragon Centre, said: “We’re so happy to welcome back Dreamflight and the children for the special screening and to help them share these memories with their families. The work Dreamflight does is so important and we’re proud to support them in any way we can.”