An amazing joint venture between The Elvetham Hotel, The Want Disney Company, Make A Wish Foundation and The Kentown Wizard Foundation

All of us at The Elvetham Hotel were extremely honoured to collaborate with Make-A-Wish^® UK {www.make-a-wish.org.uk}, The Walt Disney Company UK & Ireland {www.disney.co.uk}, and The Kentown Wizard Foundation {www.kentownwizard.org} for an exceptional event, over three weeks in the month of September, 2021.

This joint venture was in aid of helping children diagnosed with a critical condition and their families to experience some much needed magic after so many months of lockdown, isolation and hardship. Historically, Make-A-Wish and Disney have worked together to bring kids and their families for an amazing experience at Disneyland Paris. With lockdowns and travel restrictions for everyone, and the impact this had on those shielding vulnerable kids, travel to Disneyland was just not an option. The Make-A-Wish Foundation and Disney approached The Elvetham Hotel to help them host a Disney spectacle in the UK. We were proud and excited to step up to the challenge, transforming The Elvetham into ‘The Enchanted Manor’, a huge operation for all concerned, with hundreds of staff involved from all sides.

We were privileged to host 140 families over the duration of the event, with each family enjoying a magical three-day immersive experience, creating fantastic memories to treasure.

With The Elvetham closed to the public for three weeks, we were able to facilitate a full takeover of the main building and the grounds, creating an entire world for the children to enjoy. Each family stayed for two nights, with a variety of activities, games and entertainment throughout their stay. All guests were greeted on arrival by hotel porters, Wish Granters and Disney helpers to assist the families with settling in at the hotel. Our Sylvanus Restaurant was transformed into the Pixar Carnival, with funhouse distorted mirrors and fairground stalls where the children could win prizes. Our gardens held a full size fairground carousel, available for rides all day long, in addition to hosting nature walks with Winnie The Pooh and friends. We constructed a large marquee which housed numerous activities throughout the day, including a JEDI training camp, and a sing-a-long with Elsa, Anna and Olaf from Frozen. By night, the marquee became a magical space for the families to enjoy a very special dinner,  at which they were entertained by stage performances by a whole host of Disney characters. (Fun fact - During the event, The Elvetham kitchen team cooked up 834 Mickey Mouse pancakes and 237 Mickey Mouse pizzas for our hungry families.) 

As well as their on stage performances, numerous Disney characters made appearances throughout the guests’ stay, available for socially distanced pictures with the children and their families, including; Woody, Buzz Jessie and Bo Peep in the Pixar Carnival, Spider-Man in the Marvel Experience room, numerous Disney princesses in the Enchanted Library, and of course the classics: Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald Duck and Pluto.

Several celebrities lent their support to the wish families by volunteering at the event.  TV presenters Kate Garraway, Emma Willis, Stephen Mulhern and Frankie and Wayne Bridge were among the stars spending time with the children and their families, hearing more about their stories and helping make sure they experienced all the Mickey-magic and fairy-tale fun.

Kate Garraway said: “I’m delighted to be involved with the Disney Make A Wish event, and to experience the magic first-hand with all these inspiring young children and their families. Witnessing their dreams being brought to life after such a difficult few years is wonderful, and I’m so lucky to be able to join them in creating these life-long memories”

For the past 40 years, Disney and Make-A-Wish have been providing magic to wish kids and their families, starting with the very first wish granted at Disneyland Resort in 1980. Disney is one of the largest wish granters for Make-A-Wish across the globe, having fulfilled more than 140,000 wishes globally. These experiences not only brighten lives for a special moment, but also help wish children and their families build emotional resilience and help replace fear with confidence, sadness with joy and anxiety with hope.

The event was an incredibly humbling experience to be a part of and the tireless work of all of the teams at Disney and the Make-A-Wish Foundation were exemplary and inspirational. The three weeks gave all of us an insight into the real value of spending time with loved ones, of pulling together to make a difference. All of us here at The Elvetham would like to thank our partners, and most of all the children and their families for making this such an incredible project.

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The Elvetham Hotel is situated in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire. The site can be traced back to around 800 AD, and has a rich history of involvement with royalty since Tudor times. Today the Estate consists of 35 acres, and 43 bedrooms within the main house. The Elvetham Hotel provides a glamorous venue for weddings, and a perfect location for business meetings and events.

Disney’s Social Purpose

As well as being a responsible business, Disney is dedicated to providing comfort and inspiration to those in need and creating inspiration and opportunity for those who want to improve their world.  Disney’s partnership with Make-A-Wish and other not-for-profit partners across Europe is an example of how, working with others, they help build emotional resilience. Together they bring the power of our brand, stories and characters to inspire and create Moments that Matter for children and young people when they need it the most. In 2020, Disney created over 39,000 life-changing moments across Europe. For more information on their programmes and long-standing charitable partners, please click here.  

About Make-A-Wish UK

Every day, the lives of 10 families in the UK are changed forever when a child is diagnosed with a serious illness. From that moment, childhood takes a backseat to medical appointments and worry. A wish helps to restore that childhood and puts worry on the backseat. It provides an opportunity to choose something positive to look forward to and the chance to be a child first and a patient second.

Make-A-Wish UK is a registered charity that was established in the UK in 1986 to support children and young people diagnosed with a serious illness or life-limiting condition, by granting them their dearest wish. The charity receives no Government funding - registered charity numbers: 295672 in England and Wales, SC037479 in Scotland. 

About The Kentown Wizard Foundation

The Kentown Wizard Foundation is based in Blackpool and was set up by philanthropist Kenneth Townsley in 2015. The foundations mission is to have a positive impact on the lives of children and young adults with serious, life-limiting conditions and disabilities. They do this, by making grants to UK registered charities whose aims, and values are closely aligned with their own and to date, have successfully gifted over £12,000,000.

Registered Charity Number - 1163956