My Life as a Dream Factory Volunteer
Hi my name is Jonathan Joyce and I am a Dream Factory volunteer. Back in 2009 I qualified as a hypnotherapist and I decided to do some promotional work and booked a spot at a fete in a school in Loughton, Essex. I was placed in a marquee to promote my services and whilst there my wife and I noticed a stall called the Dream Factory. They stood out because of the bright colours that they were using so I went over to see what they were advertising.
I discovered that they were a charity that granted dreams to children between the ages of 3 and 25 years of age that have life limiting or life threatening conditions and or severe disabilities. My wife Julia and I decided to apply to be volunteers because we were so overwhelmed by the work that the charity was doing. We were so pleased when we were accepted by the charity and started to help with fundraising in different areas. I then went on to start granting dreams which was quite daunting at first but was so rewarding in every way especially when you could see the look on the children’s faces when they received their dream.
My wife then came onboard to grant dreams with me which she also found very rewarding. I have lost count on how many dreams I have now granted over the years but we still get a buzz once we have granted a dream. A dream that really sticks in my mind was a dream that I along with another dream maker granted for a young boy by the name Aiden Boland (who is now an ambassador a few years ago. He was mad about wrestling and wanted to go to the WWE at Wembley which we organised for him. On the day he got to meet the great Hulk Hogan and had his picture taken with him, he was also given a very rare program by Hulk Hogan. At a Dream Factory fundraising ball Aiden donated his rare program for auction. The program sold for £2,000 and the person that bought it decided to hand it back to Aiden which I thought was such great gesture by both parties particularly as I knew how much this program meant to Aiden.
It is these sort of stories that make it so worthwhile volunteering for the Dream Factory! I would also like to say that there are some fantastic volunteers giving up there precious time that should be congratulated for the hard work that they do in the background.
