Willberry’s Wish fairies were contacted by Lauren Bowes, a family friend of Rachael and Alun Jervis to ask for some help in granting a special wish for their 14 year old daughter Maddie.  Maddie, a typical pony and sport mad teenager had been competing her beloved pony Eyros when she began to get terrible pains in her legs.  After comprehensive hospital tests she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a cancer which affects growing bones, and the family’s world turned upside down.  Maddie underwent an operation to replace part of her femur and knee in a bid to cut out the affected bones, but as she lay in recovery doctors had to break the news to her parents that, during the operation, it was possible some of the cancer cells had been pushed further up into the remaining bone, leaving no other option but to completely remove the femur at a later date. 

It was at this terrible time, whilst she was undergoing brutal rounds of treatments prior to the amputation, that Lauren contacted the Wish team with an unusual request.  Maddie’s pony was being looked after by friends,  the place at her usual yard was very basic and they wanted to give it the DIY SOS treatment to make it a practical but comfortable place for Maddie to use when she was able to see Eyros again. 

Well of course Willberry’s fairies jumped at the chance to create a special place for a special and incredibly brave young girl, and in January Willberry and his team of volunteers travelled to Wales on a mission! 

There was a lot of work to be done, and Maddie’s wish was for the tack room to have a ‘Shoot Room’ theme.  A false roof was needed as well as flooring, building up of a doorway, painting and to get items that would help Maddie be able to care for her horses easily when she returned.  Willberry thought a wardrobe for storage would be helpful, adding some shelving so it was easier for Maddie to access everything.  The team put up saddle racks and hooks, all to enable Maddie to be able to look after her horses whilst enjoying a warm dry and cosy retreat when she needed it. 

This was how it looked before: 

Maddie’s horses had gone to stay at a friend’s house while Maddie was in and out of hospital.  She missed them so much, but the thought of getting them back home was what kept her going.

Willberry got everyone involved, even Rhodri.  Alun, Maddie’s Dad never knew he had such skills, while Willberry kept a close eye on the craftsmanship!

New roof to keep everything snuggly!  Important addition of the stag’s head.  Amazing new floor! 

Everything Maddie would need …………. 

When Willberry was on site in January Maddie’s temperature spiked and she had to return to hospital immediately, so sadly they never got to meet.  Covid 19 then stopped the grand opening with lockdown and restrictions.  Maddie’s operation went ahead and in May she had her leg amputated.  The pressure was on to get everything finished, so it was all steam ahead to get horses and everything put in place for her return. 

Finally Eyros came home to his beautiful stable ……………… AND THEN 

Maddie came home!!  Willberry was absolutely delighted to see Maddie back where she belongs, and with the animals and people she loves.  Her family and friends even laid on a welcome home party for her, Splashberry, Maddie's Berry Pony didn’t want to miss out and has found his pride of place in the tack room and look at the finished result!  

Willberry and the Wish team were so delighted to be able to help such an amazing young girl who has such passion and drive for her horses and is already planning her future with her new dreams of competing in the Paralympics.  We know there will be no stopping her, and this final photo from her mum just 8 weeks after her amputation says it all..

 ❤️ DREAM BIG MADDIE AND NEVER GIVE UP ️❤️ 

 Read more about Maddie's story in the Wales Online: http://bit.ly/33bKqHT 

Sienna has been undergoing treatment for cancer and has been unable to ride or barely go and see her pony for six months. Her sister Carys has been amazing and helped look after her pony for her, so their mum Kara asked if we could treat them both to a special day at Olympia, and of course Willberry and his team were delighted to help!

      Sienna’s family and friends were treated to tickets for the evening performance on Saturday, and spent some time doing some serious retail shopping first, with Sienna’s little friend Blue-Berry helping to choose some goodies. Then Willberry had a surprise treat in store by arranging for them to go behind the scenes and meet some of the stars of the show – the girls were literally lost for words! After a fantastic evening performance of top level showjumping, spectacular displays and of course Father Christmas, Willberry’s Wish fairies topped off the day with an overnight stay in a London hotel afterwards where they could relive their amazing memories.

Our huge thanks go to Olympia for their support and generosity in helping make this wonderful wish come true.

Pia got in touch with Willberry’s Wishes team following her diagnosis of breast cancer in September 2018. She has spent the last year enduring surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Despite all the horrid treatment, this incredible lady was not requesting a wish for herself but for her good friend …

Willberry and his awesome Wishes team were given a 24 hour challenge when an email came in from Lyndsay asking if we could provide some special memories at Blair International Horse Trials the following day for her good friend Moira. Moira sadly has a brain tumour and is in palliative care at present, so the Willberry jumped into action to try and give Moira plenty of smiles and joy. However, as the Wishes base is in the South West we needed to find a Northern Angel – and so we contacted the wonderful Jemma Docherty who is a staunch supporter of Willberry. She immediately jumped at the opportunity and within hours had an exciting programme planned for Moira and her friend Linda the following day.

 Jemma met Moira and Linda on Thursday morning in glorious sunshine and told them about their busy day ahead!

 They then went to the lorry park where they were taken to the most fantastic lorry you can imagine, owned by Fiona and Andrew Malcolm of the Malcolm Group and huge supporters of eventing in Scotland. They all went in to enjoy a lovely lunch of soup and sandwiches, lots of chat and plenty of laughs with Simon Grieve and Wills Oakden. Moira’s stories of the amazing achievements in her life blew them away, and were an inspiration to them all.

After lunch, they were given a VIP pass to go ‘backstage’ for a tour of the stables to meet the equine stars, filled with adrenaline and anticipation of the competition ahead. They stroked some beautiful noses, met a few well-known friendly faces and were even lucky enough to meet the legend that is Ben Hobday and his lovely wife Emma. Big smiles from Moira on that one!!

In the afternoon Moira was then treated to a drive around the cross country course with the FEI Technical Delegate Michelle Debenham, with Daniel Scott jumping in as well to give her his opinion on the fences and how he thought he would ride them. She had a fantastic insight into the challenges of the course, and knew exactly where she wanted to put her seats for the best viewing point when she came back on Saturday!

The sun shone throughout the day, the atmosphere was fantastic, and some very special memories were created for a very special lady.

Willberry sends huge thanks to the organisers and all the team at Blair for their unequivocal support as always. The Eventing Family shone through once again as riders gave their time and love to make Moira at home in their world. Last, but certainly not least, MASSIVE thanks from the bottom of Willberry's heart to the amazing Jemma Docherty, Willberry’s very own Flower of Scotland.

Willberry had a great time granting a wish to the very deserving Long daughters. Danny, Isobel and Megan's father, had got in touch in search for a wish for his wife Jo, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2018 and sadly told that it had turned terminal in March 2019. Her wish was to let her two daughters meet their heroes. Isobel was first up to meet hers, the one and only Ben Hobday, and what better place than Willberry's favourite event, Badminton Horse Trials! 

Heartbreakingly Jo lost her battle just a few weeks ago so couldn’t be here at Badminton with them, but Willberry was blown away but just how overwhelming lovely this awesome family were. No doubt Jo was looking down with smiles that matched theirs.

 Willberry caught up with Isobel afterwards to see what it is really likely to be on the receiving end of his magic wand...

“What an amazing, super, #yehboi day I had on the 1st May...
This once in a life time experience began the day before when we enjoyed our stay at the Stanton Manor hotel where we spent our evening exploring the gardens after a delicious meal.

The next morning I woke filled of excitement to meet team Ben Hobday and team Willberry Wonder Pony and to have the best day ever - I never would have been able to imagine the day to have been any better ! It was my first time going to Badminton so the atmosphere as we arrived was wonderful. Of course we headed to the shopping village to go in search of items we probably didn’t need; however to the relief of my bank account I managed not to buy anything! But finally the time had come to make our way to the Willberry stand to meet team Willberry where we were welcomed with the smiling faces of the team and where given a much appreciated goodie bag so that I can continue spreading the word of Willberry. The anticipation to meet Ben Hobday was high - I kept thinking to myself what I was going to say when I met him, it was truly a dream come true.

Before I knew it I was standing in the grand Badminton stables next to Ben Hobday who included us in his Badminton experience seamlessly enabling our experience to be the absolute best it could be... the day just got better and better as we met Ben’s horse called Wizard who was being exercised by his groom Louis. As always the camera was out and multiple snaps were being taken to capture these priceless memories which my Willberry called Chillberry accompanied me throughout the whole experience and featured in multiple photos.

The moment which really took my breath away was when we made our way out onto the famous Badminton trot up with the picturesque backdrop of the Badminton house, where historical winners of Badminton had taken to the stage. The Badminton arch alike to the house itself was stunning and I vividly recall staring up at the arch with Ben beside me and appreciating just how lucky I was to be granted my Willberry wish. Ben continued to surprise us whilst we were on the trot up by saying that we were going to be in the stables when he and Wizard were doing the trot up and that he wanted us to come to one of his experience days which would be simply amazing!

The day maintained its memories when we watched Ben ride in the main arena and in the warm up arenas. Later in the day the trot up commenced and I was surrounded by all the equine super stars! Watching Ben and Wizard get smart in preparation for the trot up was a pleasure and made me appreciate the amount of hard work and organisation which goes into events like Badminton. Sighs of relief came after each horse was announced fit to compete in the competition...

The memories and experiences that I had from the 1st of May were beyond my wildest of dreams and it’s all thanks to team Willberry for granting my wish. This blog doesn’t do justice to the once in a lifetime day I had, it’s difficult to put but words all the memories I have - there are so many and I am quite literally speechless when it comes to expressing how thankful I am and how much I enjoyed it.”