Nottingham East Midlands 2011

The children and parents arrived at the airport for 5am on Wednesday 14th December.

At the Airport they were greeted by clowns, entertainers on stilts and the Wish Team.

On the plane

The fun continued on board the plane with Jeremy Spake, who is a valued

patron of our charity, and the Crew singing carols and inviting the children to entertain us with some hilarious jokes and as usual the Monarch Crew could not do enough to make the flight truly magical.

The Magic Forest

On arrival the children were whisked off by coach to the snow-drenched Magic Forest, where they were pulled on sledges through the candle-lit path laughing and giggling with excitement for all the activities that awaited them, including husky rides, reindeer trails, snow mobiles and lots more! Around the fire children toasted marshmallows and drank hot chocolate to keep them warm as they watched a spectacular firework display that lit up the sky making the snow sparkle like a million diamonds.

Meeting Father Christmas

At the Hotel, after all the families had finished their festive dinner, it was time to sing a very special song - Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer! Fortunately (phew!), Rudolph heard the singing and it wasn't long before he brought Santa on his Sleigh to meet the children.

Santa's Village

With Santa's list now full with requests for Christmas presents, the children are transported to his village to visit his post office where all the other children from around the world send their letters. They watch Santa's elves sort the letters ready for that special day!

It was another incredible trip and one that we hope will create some very special memories.....

Below is the feedback from some of our families .....

We had an incredible time with incredible people and we can't thank you enough!!! Although Zack DID have some major 'melt downs' during the day (mostly attributed to tiredness), he (and I) had a total blast!!!!

He loved the forest and the snow, reindeer, huskies and skidoos, as well as the sausage and the toasting of marshmallows!! Of course, Santa was a big hit and then he enjoyed the snow again when we went to the shopping area (didn't get to spend more than 5 minutes in the shops - it was snow, snow, snow all the way!!!!!!!!!!)  But, for Zack, his undoubted highlight would be the clown!!!!!!!!

PLEASE PASS ON our sincerest thanks to anyone and EVERYONE involved in the day - it was a truly spectacular memory and one Zack is hopefully old enough to have as a memory for ever!!! from the Hughes Family

What can I say ........ The Lapland Trip was MAGICAL !!!

The Organization of this Trip was absolutely Top Class, From the Hotel, The Flight, Lapland and all Staff / Volunteers Involved.

The Hampton Family can not Thank you all Enough, It was a Dream come True.

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to you all for the wonderful trip to Lapland yesterday. It was fantastic and Hannah and her sisters had an amazing day. Your team were great, along with the paramedics and the Monarch team and of course not forgetting Pogo! I took lots of pictures and we have a great record of our day to keep and we will be talking about it for a long time yet. from the Gordon Family

I just wanted to say thank you for magnificent trip on Wednesday.  Dominic loved the magic forest and hasn't stopped talking about it!  It was great to see the excitement on his face when Santa made an appearance.  The organisation was first class and everyone did all they could to make it a special day for all of the kids.  I was totally overwhelmed by the work that you and all of the supporters of the charity do.

The memories of the day will last a lifetime and I can't thank you enough.

The McIlhatton family