News

David Allen are proud to have provided the financial support in partnership with Jigsaw and Virgin Trains to grant a wish for Hannah Hodgson and her family.  A seven day dream trip to London, which included trips to Harry Potter and a theatre visit.

Following her return, Hannah kindly gave us an update on her adventures. ‘‘We are so grateful. The trip was absolutely incredible.  I have never been to London before, so this gave me the opportunity to do so many of the things I have wanted to do for a very long time.  Our hotel was a couple of minutes away from the houses of parliament, and we went on an extremely interesting tour.  I discovered the National Poetry Library, which was super exciting as I’m a poet and super geeky about poetry.

The Harry Potter experience was unlike anything we have done before.  The detail of all the sets, the sheer scale of the whole tour and details of the behind the scenes team.  As a family we are HUGE Harry Potter fans and were blown away.  The Lion King was stunning! The music, costumes and humour were great.

The first class train tickets made the journey really comfortable, as I find travel really difficult.  Thank you so much for the support – the trip away gave us opportunity to get away from every day realities of my deteriorating health (such as appointments), and spend some time as a family again.’’

The David Allen team are honoured to support Jigsaw as their Charity of the Year and have chosen them not solely because it is a great cause, but because their working ethos mirrors our own.  They work in partnership with the children and young adults, their family, carers and other professionals with whom they are trusted to care for.

Reflecting on our partnership Stuart Davison, Operations Manager said, ‘‘Many supporters will not get the chance to see exactly where their fundraising efforts go, to know we played a part in such an amazing experience for Hannah and her family is great and hugely motivating for our fundraising efforts going forward.  As local people, businesses and a community, if all we do is be an advocate of such a worthwhile cause and raise awareness of the work being delivered, then that can only be a wonderful thing.’’

Mark Green, Virgin Trains Station Manager at Penrith, said: “Eden Valley Hospice and Jigsaw provide an invaluable service for the people of Cumbria and really special care to their patients and families, so it was a privilege to team up with David Allen to play a small part in giving Hannah and her family a memorable trip to London.”

Patricia Livsey, Chief Executive of Jigsaw following the trip said, ‘‘The hospice would like to say a huge thank you to David Allen for making Hannah’s wish come true by funding her trip to London and to Virgin Trains for providing complementary first class return train tickets for Hannah and her family.  It is wonderful that Hannah was able to fulfil her dream to visit London with her family.

David Allen is a fantastic supporter of Jigsaw, Cumbria’s Children’s Hospice providing ongoing financial and practical support for the children and their families.

Enabling Hannah and her family to have this amazing experience is something extra special.  We are delighted that David Allen has made this possible.’’