The most magical trip of a lifetime for Northern Ireland children with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions is back this Christmas after a two-year break.
The Northern Ireland Children to Lapland and Days to Remember Trust (NICLT) is gearing up to take 100 deserving children to Lapland on Wednesday for the first time since before the coronavirus pandemic.
It will be a very early start for up to 100 children, their parents, carers and to board the first NICLT Lapland flight for the first time since 2019.
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The trip will see the children — those living with challenging conditions, some of which are life-threatening as well as life-limiting — and a huge support team made up of Trust medics, nurses and carers, as well as parents, arrive at the airport for 5am.
The children and their cohort of supporters will be welcomed by The Choir Studio from Newry, who will fill the air with festive music, initiating the magic of what will be a fun-packed day.
Tour operator TUI will have the aircraft ready for take-off when the fun and games will begin, including art competitions and sing-alongs.
After a three-hour flight, the children will disembark the aeroplane and make their way to the magical location of Rovaniemi where Santa resides in a cavernous and truly magical winter wonderland, under the Arctic Circle.
The mystical spot, just 800 kilometres north of Helsinki, is where the children meet with Santa and his huskies, bake with Mrs Claus, take a magical train ride and even qualify from Elf school.
This year will mark NICLT’s eleventh trip to Lapland, while the 2022 passengers onboard will bring the total amount of guests the charity has taken to Rovaneimi to over 1200 in its 12 years of operation.
Planned with painstaking detail, NICLT’s trip to Lapland is not without its challenges. Not only is a team of medical professionals required to ensure the safety of those onboard but a host of equipment is needed to ensure their comfort too.
Without the support of NI health professionals, Belfast International Airport, TUI, airport ground staff here and Wild Nordic ground staff in Finland, none of this would be possible.
The mission of the trip is to give deserving children from across the Province an experience that they can cherish; an experience that would otherwise not be possible given the complexities associated with travelling with many of the conditions the children are living with.
At any given stage in Northern Ireland, there are at least 1,500 children suffering from a terminal or life-limiting illness and NICLT has an objective to alleviate the pressures these children and their families face by organising experiences like the Lapland visit.
This year the usual cost of the trip — approximately £750 per child — has increased substantially to accommodate the cost of living crisis and surging fuel costs.
It means the Northern Ireland Children to Lapland and Days to Remember Trust has had to intensify its fundraising efforts and appeals while many of its corporate partners dug even deeper to ensure the resumption of the trip.
NICLT’s President, Gerry Kelly, said: “We are delighted to be able to resume our trip to Lapland this Christmas and create memories with some of the most deserving children here and their families.
“The Northern Ireland Children to Lapland Trust relies solely on donations and fundraising drives and we are so grateful to our donors, supporters and corporate partners who have empathised greatly and reflected those higher costs pressures on us through their contributions.
“Without them our trip to Lapland this year would not be happening.”
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