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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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