Children from Wortley joined a Young Dreamers Takeover Day where they took on their dream job at children’s cancer charity Candlelighters.
Candlelighters hosted a series of innovative events called ‘Young Dreamers’ to invite patients past and present, and their siblings, to local events to give feedback and shape the support available for families now and in the future.
Children joined Candlelighters at Little Deer Wood Activity Centre in Mirfield, where they spent the morning undertaking fun, engaging, child-friendly activities to share thoughts and feedback on virtually every aspect of the charity, from marketing to finance, and fundraising to support services.
In the afternoon the children enjoyed a number of activities from orienteering to a treasure hunt to archery.
Natalie Kisby, head of family support at Candlelighters, said:
“It’s really important to us that children’s ideas and opinions form part of our future planning. Our services are designed to support them and their families, so it’s only right that they are able to take part in the design of what we do to ensure that our services and support deliver what is needed for children and their families.”
Children who took part in these initial events were also given the chance to apply for their ‘dream job’ at Candlelighters – any role, from the CEO to Family Support to Housekeeper. Children who applied for these jobs got to spend the day at Candlelighters’ family support centre, The Square, ‘working’ in these roles, providing further ideas and feedback.
18 children attended the Young Dreamers Takeover day, meeting the extended Candlelighters team, including Anya and Oscar Morris from Wortley, joined the Family Support Team, helping to plan out upcoming patient and sibling support groups and events.
Erin Morris took on the role of HR manager, adding to the charity’s interview questions and developing new staff wellbeing ideas.
At the end of the day, Candlelighters held its annual Halloween party with the Young Dreamers and many other children it supports in attendance, taking part in games, activities, dancing and more.
Candlelighters CEO Emily Wragg said:
“We set out to create a child-friendly way for children to be involved in the strategic planning process for Candlelighters and to educate them on the importance of the third sector and how it works.
“We hope that the Young Dreamers programme will mean that in time, some of these children will be able to join our board and those of other charities as they grow older to use their experiences and knowledge to help secure the future of an important sector”.
Candlelighters relies on the support of members of the public and businesses to continue its work supporting children and their families through childhood cancer across Yorkshire.
