Carlisle United Football Club and Jigsaw, Cumbria’s only Children’s Hospice, are looking to ‘Make A Dream Come True’ this winter by sending a child and their family all the way to Lapland to meet Santa, his elves, and possibly even the reindeer [we’ve heard that Rudolph can be quite shy] as the North Pole gang gear themselves up for the big day with presents to wrap and sleighs to pack.
United’s director of football David Holdsworth, a long-term supporter of both Jigsaw and Eden Valley Hospice, is spearheading the project on behalf of the club with a fundraising campaign which kicks off this weekend with a presentation in the club’s Legends Lounge ahead of the Tranmere Rovers game.
“I’ve done this before, when I was at Gretna, and it was just wonderful to be able to help to give a family and their child some very special and fond memories at a stage when they were going through a tough time,” he explained. “It would be fantastic if we were able to do something similar here at Carlisle United.
“The plan is to raise enough money to send a family of four to Lapland to meet Santa and to see where all of the important Christmas work gets done.
“We’ll be asking local businesses to become part of what we think is an amazing project for a special cause, and we are also reaching out to the wider Carlisle United community to see if they can help us to ‘Make A Dream Come True’ for one of these fantastic children and their loved ones.
“We’ve set up a Just Giving page for the project, so if anybody can make a donation, however big or small, please do. I’ve said from the first day I started work here that one of our main aims was to bring the club and the community closer together. Just imagine how proud we will all feel when we wave a family off on what will be the trip of a lifetime.”
David is hosting an informal chat in the Legends Lounge at 12pm on Saturday afternoon where interested businesses, companies or individuals are welcome to come along to find out more about the ‘Make A Dream Come True’ project, or to pledge their support.
“Please do come along to speak to me on Saturday, because I’m passionate about making this happen for our Jigsaw families,” he said. “I’ll be speaking to travel agents and working closely with Jigsaw to get full details about travel costs and requirements this week, and it would be fantastic if we could reach our funding target as quickly as possible.
“Doing this together as a Cumbrian community would make it extra special and, knowing the region as I do, I’m sure that people will be more than happy to give their backing to this heart-warming project.”
Please donate to our ‘Make A Dream Come True’ Just Giving fund - click HERE to donate now.
Meet David Holdsworth to find out more about the project on Saturday 15 September in the Legends Lounge, Brunton Park, 12pm.
Back the Blues and help us to Make A Dream Come True.
