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NETJETS EU VOLUME 15 2021

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for a spin – at speed – in a Lamborghini sprayed<br />

shocking pink for the occasion and driven by<br />

Richard Hammond, co-presenter of Amazon’s<br />

The Grand Tour. “It was a wonderful thing<br />

for her,” says Burston. “And it gave so much<br />

pleasure to her family too, to all of those who<br />

loved her. She passed away soon afterwards.<br />

But they still watch the video.”<br />

No less poignant are the wishes granted to<br />

children who just want to grow up and have a<br />

career – as a zookeeper or an Underground driver<br />

or a firefighter. One was given the chance to<br />

experience life as a member of British Airways’<br />

cabin crew, looking every bit the part in her smart<br />

Julien Macdonald-designed uniform. Another, this<br />

time an aspiring ballerina, realised her ambition<br />

to step on to the stage of London’s Royal Opera<br />

House with a member of the Royal Ballet.<br />

It takes a staff of 29 and a cohort of 200<br />

volunteers as well as dozens of supporters and<br />

celebrity ambassadors (among them footballers<br />

Dele Alli and Mesut Özil, Olympian gymnast Louis<br />

Smith, chef Gordon Ramsay, musicians Pixie Lott<br />

and Olly Murs and acts such as Little Mix and<br />

One Direction) to make the magic happen. But<br />

granting wishes to individual children is not all<br />

the charity does. It caters to groups as well, for<br />

which it hosts parties. And sometimes wishes<br />

are granted to whole wards, benefiting dozens of<br />

children through the creation of indoor gardens or<br />

sensory rooms, or simply enabling the hospital to<br />

buy specialist equipment.<br />

KEEP ON SMILING<br />

Rays of Sunshine’s efforts will<br />

continue to raise the spirit of<br />

seriously ill children<br />

As the parent of one wish grantee put it,<br />

“We’ll never ever be able to thank you enough<br />

for what you did for [our son], what you did<br />

for all of us. You’re as important to us as the<br />

surgeon who saved his life, the oncologist who<br />

keeps him well, the radiologist who monitors<br />

him and the nurses who care for him.”<br />

Another mother talks of the<br />

“immeasurable” joy and support the charity<br />

brought her teenage son, Joe Lunn, during<br />

his struggle with metastatic synovial<br />

sarcoma, a very rare and deadly soft-tissue<br />

cancer. A huge NFL fan, Joe longed to meet<br />

the New York Giants, to walk out on to the<br />

field of the MetLife Stadium with them and<br />

toss the coin to determine who kicked first.<br />

Rays of Sunshine granted his wish. And<br />

Joe went on to reciprocate by cycling 160km<br />

in aid of it, raising more than £<strong>15</strong>,000. “He<br />

was so passionate about it, just an incredible<br />

advocate,” says Burston. “And I got to know<br />

him and his family quite well.” Indeed, Joe<br />

should have been speaking at this autumn’s<br />

auction, but sadly he did not survive the<br />

summer. “He fought so hard,” Burston adds.<br />

“He was a real fighter. He’s what inspires me.<br />

I’ll be thinking of him on the day.”<br />

Rays of Sunshine Art Auction at Christie’s<br />

London and globally on christies.com,<br />

16 October <strong>2021</strong><br />

raysofsunshine.org.uk<br />

KEITH MEATHERINGHAM<br />

NetJets<br />

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