We are thrilled to announce that a parent carer from Lincolnshire has won our trip to Lapland for her and her family, after entering our Christmas prize draw.
We are overwhelmed with the amount of support the prize draw attracted after launching in November. Our aim for this prize draw was to help raise funds for young carers as our Christmas appeal. Runner up prizes included Amazon and supermarket vouchers, but the main prize was a Lapland trip for a family of four, with an additional £500 spending money.
Kerry, from Spalding, was the lucky winner of the main prize in Carers First’s 2021 Christmas appeal. Kerry and her family, including two boys aged 9 and 6, will be jetting off next Christmas for an enchanting day trip to the home of Father Christmas himself, Lapland.
While there, Kerry and her boys will get to enjoy husky and reindeer sleigh rides, tobogganing as well as join the Elves in a hunt for Father Christmas in the enchanted forest.
Kerry was a full-time carer to her oldest son who has autism. It’s not been an easy road getting him the support he needs, however, he is now in a specialist school so Kerry has been able to go back to work part-time and shares the care with her husband, who also works part-time.
Kerry was first introduced to Carers First by a local autism charity and has accessed information and support through our website and Facebook community. The Facebook community helped Kerry feel less alone, particularly during the pandemic.
Kerry said that she appreciated the check-in calls our staff made during the pandemic, over 4,000 such calls were made to to local carers. Helping, in some cases, with access to food as well as financial and emotional support.
Kerry bought a prize draw ticket because of the support she has received from Carers First but never imagined winning the main prize.
About winning the prize draw, Kerry said:
“It was amazing, I struggled to believe it. Sharing the news with my family was just brilliant. It means so much to win. It’s something we always thought would be amazing but we could never afford at this time. Being able to tell my children we are taking them to Lapland is an incredible feeling. It’s going to be very special for all of us.”
Thank you for helping us support young carers and lighting up their Christmas with fun events and activities this year. Check back in the New Year for updates on the difference your funding is making!
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