Merlin’s Magic Wand donated a number of Magical Days Out tickets to Diverse Abilities, Dorset’s disability charity, enjoyed by children with physical and/or learning disabilities and their families during 2021.

Days out have included trips to Chessington World of Adventures Resort, SEA LIFE Weymouth, and LEGOLAND Windsor, and the charity also provided contributions towards the hire of coaches for each trip. Merlin’s Magic Wand aims to make fun accessible by providing complimentary tickets and travel grants to help families create long-lasting memories and take valuable time out from their stressful daily routine.

Erin Woods, charity manager from Merlin’s Magic Wand, commented: “Merlin’s Magic Wand is an international children’s charity that has been creating magical experiences for children who need them most for over 13 years. With the support of our partners, colleagues, beneficiaries, and friends, to date we’ve been able to create over one million magical experiences with our three magical programmes.”

Diverse Abilities has been supported by Merlin’s Magic Wand since 2016, and the charities work together to provide fun days out and activities for families through a selection of its services including Project My Time, for children ages eight to 18; Awesome Nights, a youth club for teenagers with special education needs; Coping with CHAOS, providing play sessions for the whole family; and STARs, Diverse Abilities’ newly launched sibling support service.

Clare Rochford, Children’s Team manager, added: “We are honestly so thankful to Merlin’s Magic Wand for supporting us each year, it really does make a huge difference to the families we work with. The daily challenges these families face often make these sorts of days out a daunting experience, and by being able to facilitate these trips means we can take the stress out of the whole process.”

Visit diverseabilities.org.uk for more details about the charity’s services for children and adults with physical and learning disabilities.