About Us:

Promise Dreams is a national charity that aims to make a real difference to children who are seriously or terminally ill.

Every child has a dream and whatever it may be, we aim to make it come true – whether it be to go on the holiday of a lifetime to make special memories and spend quality time with their loved ones, to meet their celebrity hero, to own a specially-adapted trike so they can join in on family bike rides, or to have essential specialist equipment installed in their home to make day to day life a little easier.

Any dream which will make life happier or simpler for a family in need is considered by our experienced, caring trustees who review every application we receive.

Apply for a dream here

Read about dreams we've delivered

Meet the Team:

Steve Walker - Trustee

Steve is a founding trustee, who wanted to set up a charity to help seriously and terminally ill children which was fully transparent with regards to donation, and where endless £s weren't spent on promotion and 'schmoozing'.

The low-cost model we still retain is based on the idea that fundraisers will know exactly where their money has gone, and we've even had donors meet the children their money has benefitted.

Steve set up Promise Money in 2023, a specliast mortgage and loan company which also supports and shares resources with Promise Dreams.

John Donovan - Trustee

John has been a supporter of the charity for many years, and joined the Trustee Board back in 2008.

From his advertising agency base in London, John brings a different perspective to the Board and helps to plan for the charity's long-term growth and stability. 

John Donnelly - Trustee

John has supported the charity since the beginning in 2001 and is our newest Trustee, joining the Board in January 2022.

John has lots of ideas for fundraising and, with a strong business background in the holiday and travel sector, he has many connections and contacts.

He is looking forward to inviting new supporters on board whilst continuing to work with existing supporters who have helped so much over the years.

Nikki Yeomans - Charity Manager

Nikki set up the charity with the founding Trustees back in 2001. It was an exciting and special time - bringing on board patrons, supporters and volunteers, organising the first events and making the first dreams come true.

After some time in the corporate world, Nikki rejoined Promise Dreams in December 2021. She's very happy to be back and is passionate about taking the charity forward.

Vickie Thompson - Dream Co-ordinator 

Vickie joined Promise Dreams in November 2022 bringing with her strong administration and organisational skills as well as experience in creating social media content and online newsletters. 

She hit the ground running helping with the 21st Birthday Ball and says she loves her role co-ordinating the dreams, and working her hardest to make them special for the children and their families.

Recruitment

We don't currently have any vacancies but if you'd like to find out more about becoming a volunteer please click here.

Promise Dreams' Donation Policy

The Trustees of Promise Dreams have a responsibility to act in its best interests and in doing so, may decide to refuse or return a donation if it does not meet with the charity’s aims, or if it would be immoral or unlawful to accept it.

Promise Dreams' founding aim is as follows:

To raise funds to provide dreams for seriously and terminally ill children and their families throughout the UK.

Criteria for accepting or refusing donations:

Decisions regarding the acceptance of donations will be made by the Trustees, in collaboration with the Charity Manager, and will be made, but not limited to, the following considerations:

Will the donations benefit the charity, and its aims?

Will acceptance of the donation be detrimental to the reputation of the charity?

Will acceptance of the donation lessen overall support for the charity, to an extent which exceeds the donation amount?

Is the donation being made by an organisation/industry, or by an individual affected by miscarriage?

Does the charity need to carry out due diligence?

Donation amount:

Where the charity receives a single donation in excess of £1,000.00 or more, or where staff have a concern, the staff and/or its Trustees will undertake due diligence checks in respect to the same and consider whether the above criteria have been met.

Source of donations:

The charity does not accept donations from companies or industries where there has been clear evidence of increased miscarriage risk as a result of that company or industry’s products or the activities it promotes. Further, where there is reputational risk to Promise Dreams. and its aims from accepting monetary or public support from such an industry or company where the increased risk of miscarriage has been identified, any donation or support would again not be accepted.

However, where an individual working within these industries has chosen to support Promise Dreams on the basis of personal loss, or in support of someone close to them, it is recognised that donations as a result of this are made from personal efforts, and therefore would not be considered as a donation from an excluded company or industry. However, match funding from the company in question would not be accepted.

Where a concern has been raised, either externally or internally, regarding the acceptance of a donation which could be viewed as an endorsement of inappropriate or questionable advice or treatment, and which could have a negative or harmful impact on Promise Dreams stakeholders, any donation may again be refused. This may apply to both companies and individuals.

In order to effectively address the above considerations in assessing whether or not a donation should be accepted, it is recognised that in some cases the donation source may not be recognisable or identifiable. However, due diligence to ensure the authenticity and acceptable nature of the donation will be undertaken wherever necessary by both Promise Dreams staff and Trustees.

Purpose of Donations:

Where funds are raised for a specific initiative or service, potential donors should be advised that: if funds received exceed the amount needed, any excess will be directed towards Promise Dreams core services, unless the donor requests otherwise, or;

if it is decided not to implement that initiative or particular dream is no longer required Promise Dreams will do its utmost to inform donors, who may then choose for their donation to be returned or to be directed towards Promise Dreams for its core services.

Timing of Donations:

Where an incident occurs after a donation, which calls the donation into repute, for example to include payment received through civil or criminal wrongdoing, the decision of whether to accept or return the donation will be based on the above criteria and will be the final decision of the Trustees.