the magic wand - january 2014
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Happy New Year from Merlin’s Magic Wand! Happy New Year from Merlin’s Magic Wand! Happy New Year from Merlin’s Magic Wand! Happy New Year from Merlin’s Magic Wand! 2013 was an amazing year for Merlin’s Magic Wand. We distrib-uted more tickets than ever before (over 36,800 in fact) to seriously ill, disabled and disadvantaged children and their families all over the world. We also made progress with Taking the Magic to the Children, opening two new projects and starting many others.
This issue includes the final 2013 attraction fundraising league tables. I would like to say a personal thank you to everyone that has been involved in raising money for MMW, in particular the Charity Champions that have coordinated a wide range of events and activities. We could not have achieved so much without the incredible support and commitment of Merlin teams across the globe.
2014 is set to be another record breaking and memorable year. We have already received almost 2,000 ap-plications for support, which is over double the amount we had received at this point in 2013!
I look forward to hearing about all of your MMW plans and I am sure that together we can make an even bigger di1erence in 2014.
Sandra Hazel - Charity Manager
Who have you helped?
Days out with Magic Wand
2-3
Fundraising Stories
Fantastic money-raising!
4-6
League Tables
Where have you placed?
8-10
Meet the Team
Your guide to the MMW Team
7
Inside this issue:Inside this issue:Inside this issue:Inside this issue:
Magic Wand The
The Magic Wand - January 2014
At the end of 2013 we opened our latest Taking the At the end of 2013 we opened our latest Taking the At the end of 2013 we opened our latest Taking the At the end of 2013 we opened our latest Taking the Magic to the Children project. SEA LIFE Timmendorfer Magic to the Children project. SEA LIFE Timmendorfer Magic to the Children project. SEA LIFE Timmendorfer Magic to the Children project. SEA LIFE Timmendorfer Strand chose to work with Kupferhof, a respite home on Strand chose to work with Kupferhof, a respite home on Strand chose to work with Kupferhof, a respite home on Strand chose to work with Kupferhof, a respite home on the outskirts of Hamburg.the outskirts of Hamburg.the outskirts of Hamburg.the outskirts of Hamburg.
In Northern Germany there are roughly 10,000 severely disabled children who are cared for at home. Kupferhof is there to give parents siblings and the disabled child a break, providing sensory experiences, physiotherapy and relaxing rooms.
Our Charity Champion at SEA LIFE Timmendorfer Strand, Natascha Spreen has worked with Kupferhof to create an incredible Merlin playroom for the children to enjoy.
Natascha said “When I first visited Kupferhof I instantly thought that this should be the first Taking the Magic to the Children project in Germany. The planning of the project - getting the team and suppliers together has been quite a piece of work but MMW motivated me to keep on working on it. It has been a pleasure to see the motiva-
tion and enthusiasm of the team for the project and the growing interest in MMW activities.
The opening of Kupferhof Play-room has been the most emotional opening of all exhibitions I have done in my 15 years of SEA LIFE career. Seeing the smiles on the faces of the children entering the room made me proud and happy. Every minute of extra work was worth it and a big thank you goes to everyone who has been part of the project.“
“Seeing the smiles on the faces of the children
entering the room made me proud and happy”
Taking the Magic to Germany!
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Who have YOU helped? Elliott is a 9 year old with an encyclo-paedic knowledge of sharks and he wants to be a Marine Biologist.
Elliott has a brain tumour and was re-covering from emergency brain surgery when he learned that he would also be enduring chemotherapy, which would mean a long stay in hospital.
As respite from the hospital appointments, Elliot and his family visited SEA LIFE Grapevine Aquarium SEA LIFE Grapevine Aquarium SEA LIFE Grapevine Aquarium SEA LIFE Grapevine Aquarium where he spent time with the aquarists and got to see some of the behind the scenes oper-ations, as well as shark feeding and up close encounters with some of the creatures.
He now charms his oncology sta1 by telling them all about sharks and he always insists on showing them the shark's teeth he was given by the SEA LIFE aquarists.
The Ark in Germany is an organisation that helps underprivi-leged children.
The Berlin Dungeon Berlin Dungeon Berlin Dungeon Berlin Dungeon contacted The Ark and arranged a magical day out for a group of 18 children and their carers, and they had a fantastic time.
The children were very happy to have the chance to have a scarily fun day and enjoy just being kids for once. The Chair-man of The Ark told us that they would not have been able to a1ord the trip without the support of Merlin’s Magic Wand.
The Berlin Dungeon Berlin Dungeon Berlin Dungeon Berlin Dungeon sta1 enjoyed welcoming them to the at-traction and hope to keep in touch and arrange similar visits for other children in the future.
SEA LIFE Konstanz SEA LIFE Konstanz SEA LIFE Konstanz SEA LIFE Konstanz have recently hosted a visit for 11 local children between the ages of 3 and 16yrs.
All of the children are being cared for by a local clinic that provides rehabilitation for families with young people a1ected by cancer and cystic fibrosis.
The children enjoyed a wonderful day out at SEA LIFE KonstanzSEA LIFE KonstanzSEA LIFE KonstanzSEA LIFE Konstanz, interecting with the creatures and forgetting their troubles for a day.
The Magic Wand - January 2014
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Who have YOU helped?
The team at SEA LIFE Paris SEA LIFE Paris SEA LIFE Paris SEA LIFE Paris gave some local children a Christmas to remember by organising for them to meet Father Christmas!
They organised to bring children who would be spend-ing their Christmas at a local hospital to the attraction for a magical day out they would never forget.
The children had a wonderful time looking at all of the creatures and meeting Father Christmas himself, and also took part in a treasure hunt that the team at SEA LIFE Paris had organised.
Congratulations to SEA LIFE Paris on a fantastic first Merlin’s Magic Wand visit!
Madame Tussauds Hollywood Madame Tussauds Hollywood Madame Tussauds Hollywood Madame Tussauds Hollywood welcomed 8 young boys from East Valley Charlee, a care home for abused chil-dren.
The young ladies from the care home had experienced a Merlin’s Magic Wand day out at the attraction the previ-ous month, so the boys were very excited about their own day out!
The were treated to a VIP studio tour with a Studio Artist and their favourite moment of the day was making their own wax hands.
As a special treat, Madame Tussauds Hollywood was able to get Hard Rock Café, a neighboring partner, to donate complimentary lunches to the children after their visit as well.
The Magic Wand - January 2014
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Fundraising Success!
SEA LIFE London SEA LIFE London SEA LIFE London SEA LIFE London have created their own Merlin’s Magic Wand corner!
Not only is the money spinner helping to boost fundraising, it is also increasing guest engagement! If you would like a similar installa-tion at your attraction, please con-tact Sarah Ford.
The Merlin’s Magic Wand Committee at Madame Tussauds Madame Tussauds Madame Tussauds Madame Tussauds HollywoodHollywoodHollywoodHollywood held a potluck fundraiser for the sta1.
There were over 20 di1erent dishes donated from the sta1, including two turkeys! Participants could buy a plate for $5, or donate a dish and buy a plate for a discounted price of $2. They raised $160!
Fundraising Excellence
Award Winners
The Leadership Team at Madame Tussauds London Madame Tussauds London Madame Tussauds London Madame Tussauds London have raised over £2,000 for Merlin's Magic Wand!
Ben Sweet, Sam Regan, Shazia Ali, Samantha Burton, Steve Croll and Peter Gallagher have
completed an incredible fundraising challenge, by abseiling down the iconic dome of
Madame Tussauds London!
The team have managed to raise a whopping £2,010.55 and are
still taking donations through their Justgiving page:
https://www.justgiving.com/MTleadershipteam
Congratulations to everyone who took part!
The Magic Wand - January 2014
Page 5
Fundraising Success!
SEA LIFE Porto SEA LIFE Porto SEA LIFE Porto SEA LIFE Porto have had a successful month of fundraising, which has led to them raising €165.19!
Through raLes, 3D cinema experiences and a moustache contest they have increased the fund-raising at their attraction, and celebrated with a small party at the end of the month - with each attendee giving money to Merlin’s Magic Wand!
Congratulations on a fantastic month of fund-raising!
Busan Aquarium Busan Aquarium Busan Aquarium Busan Aquarium held a fantastic fundraising event in December, invit-ing the friends and families of their employees to come along for the even-ing and take part in a variety of games.
They had a great evening and raised over KRW 200,000!
In a tour with a di1erence the roles were reversed at York DungeonYork DungeonYork DungeonYork Dungeon, as the Management and FOH sta1 donned costume and make-up and acted their little socks o1 for Merlin’s Magic Wand! The cast included Management (Lisa Cameron and James Bishop), Front of House (Mab Hashmi and Andy Harrison) and Events Photo Team (Caitlin Lollar, Hannah Jones, Kieran Wade and Sam Budworth). Well done to everyone at York, they raised a whopping £272!
Congratulations are in order for MBSMBSMBSMBS’s Rupert Hough & Alton Towers ResortAlton Towers ResortAlton Towers ResortAlton Towers Resort’s Michael Black-man, who raised a colossal £3485 for MMW last month in their Coast to Coast cycle! Taking on an epic route from Blackpool to Scarborough SEALIFE, the duo and their team-mates com-pleted the eye-watering 154 mile challenge in just two days.
The Magic Wand - January 2014
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Festive Fundraising! On special event days during the month of Decem-ber, guests of LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas Fort WorthFort WorthFort WorthFort Worth were given the opportunity to build LEGO Christmas ornaments with the Master Model Builder for their Holly Jolly Holidays celebrations.
For a $1 donation to Merlin’s Magic Wand, guests were able to make their LEGO ornament and place it on our Christmas Tree.
They raised a festive $60!
On 13th December 2013 the Finance Team at Warwick Cas-Warwick Cas-Warwick Cas-Warwick Cas-tle tle tle tle held a Bazaar selling crafts, baked goods and raLe tick-ets! The lucky sta1 at Warwick Castle were in with a chance of winning a Christmas hamper, Bells Whisky and lots more! They raised an amazing £318.19!
Madame Tussauds Berlin Madame Tussauds Berlin Madame Tussauds Berlin Madame Tussauds Berlin em-ployees baked some tasty Christmas Cookies and sold them for Merlin’s Magic Wand, raising €46.30!
Many thanks to everyone who held a Christmas Jumper Day in aid of Merlin’s Magic Wand. We managed to raise a fan-tastic £118.55 in Poole Poole Poole Poole and the team at SEA LIFE LondonSEA LIFE LondonSEA LIFE LondonSEA LIFE London looked very festive!
The Magic Wand - January 2014
Meet the Team
Page 7
Sarah FordSarah FordSarah FordSarah Ford – Operations Manager
Tel: 01202 440080 E-mail: [email protected]
Sarah is the contact for our network of Charity Champions, so con-tact her for collateral and any questions you may have. Please refer to Sarah for all Marketing, PR and Communications matters, i.e. newslet-ters, visit stories, web-site, fundraising and collateral.
Sandra HazelSandra HazelSandra HazelSandra Hazel – Charity Manager
Tel: 01202 440073 Mob: 07968 552 535 E-mail: [email protected]
Sandra oversees all aspects of MMW Charity Activity and Strategy including Applications, Fundraising, Taking the Magic to the Children Projects and Communications.
Sandra is based at Merlin House in Poole. Please contact her with any questions or suggestions.
Hilary BirkinshawHilary BirkinshawHilary BirkinshawHilary Birkinshaw – Finance & Projects Manager
Tel: 01372 751374 E-mail: [email protected]
Louise NorthLouise NorthLouise NorthLouise North – Finance Assistant E-mail: [email protected]
Nicky ElliottNicky ElliottNicky ElliottNicky Elliott – Applications Co-ordinator
Debbie Sherwin Debbie Sherwin Debbie Sherwin Debbie Sherwin - Applications Assistant
Tel: 01202 440060 E-Mail: [email protected]
Please refer to Nicky or Debbie for any information on the application process or on the Visit Report Forms.
They are both based at Merlin House in Poole.
The Magic Wand - January 2014
Louise supports with our financial processes and payments. Louise is part-time and is in our MBS oQce near Chessington every Wednesday.
Hilary looks after all the financial aspects of the charity, making sure the funds our sup-porters have raised are used and managed e1ectively. Contact her with any questions about donations and grants. She also looks after the monthly fundraising report, data analysis and various projects. Hilary is part-time and based at our MBS OQce near Chessington.
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Fundraising League Tables This table shows fundraising by Attraction Attraction Attraction Attraction as at 31st December 2013
The Magic Wand - January 2014
Keep track of your 2014 fundraising with the Merlin’s Magic Wand Keep track of your 2014 fundraising with the Merlin’s Magic Wand Keep track of your 2014 fundraising with the Merlin’s Magic Wand Keep track of your 2014 fundraising with the Merlin’s Magic Wand fundraising thermometer fundraising thermometer fundraising thermometer fundraising thermometer ---- arriving at your attraction soon!arriving at your attraction soon!arriving at your attraction soon!arriving at your attraction soon!
Total: £274,004
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This table shows fundraising by Guest Guest Guest Guest as at 31st December 2013
Fundraising League Tables The Magic Wand - January 2014
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Visit League Table This table shows how many tickets were given out by Merlin’s Merlin Wand by Attraction Attraction Attraction Attraction as at 31st
December 2013. If your attraction is not featured, it means you haven’t hosted a visit yet. Get in touch with Sarah Ford to find out how to organise a visit now!
The Magic Wand - January 2014