A trip to the Oasis Travel Northern Ireland Cruise Fair at Titanic Belfast last week was the starting point for a free Mediterranean cruise for Lisburn man Ian Green.
Ian was the lucky winner of the charity raffle at the fair and early next year he’ll be whisking his mum off to enjoy a seven night luxury cruise on board Royal Caribbean’s ‘Freedom Of The Seas’ courtesy of Oasis Travel.
Ian and his mum aren’t the only local winners however, for the charity fundraising raised a donation of £1,821 for local charity, Cavan’s First Steps.
For the last 10 months the local charity has been raising funds, through Tree of Hope, to cover the cost of pioneering surgery in America to help three-year-old Cavan O’Neill from Dunmurry to take his first steps. Cavan suffers from Cerebral Palsy, a specific kind called Spastic Diplegia that mainly affects his legs due to tight muscle tone and spasticity which makes it difficult for him to walk. Even standing hurts and Cavan suffers from tightness in his limbs that is only getting worse as he grows. The prospect of complex surgery is daunting, but his parents, friends and supporters are determined to give this courageous little boy the chance to get on his feet and begin living.
Now the funds raised at the Oasis Travel Northern Ireland Cruise Fair will fund Cavan’s flights to America in October for his operation and support some of his post-operation physiotherapy.
Speaking about the funds raised at the Cruise Fair, Cavan’s mum, Emma said: “Oasis Travel has been immensely supportive of our campaign from the onset in October last year.
“We were truly humbled to be offered the opportunity to raise funds at such a prestigious travel event. The fantastic amount raised will not only fund our flights to St Louis, which would ordinarily amount to around 15 physio sessions for Cavan, but the excess will help us in what we know will be an intense rehabilitation period of a range of therapies.
“We will be forever grateful to Sandra, her team at Oasis Travel and those who attended the Cruise Fair and gave so generously and with so much compassion. We wish Ian the best of luck with his lovely prize.”
For the first time Oasis Travel’s annual celebration of holidays afloat was a two-day event, providing show-goers with expert presentations from some of the world’s leading cruise companies; one-to-one advice plus exclusive fair-only deals.
Land-locked it may be, but the Cruise Fair also provided a taste of life on–board a cruise liner with live music, hair styling demos, salsa dancing, face painting, a roaming magician and a little showgirl razzmatazz.
Delighted with the success of this year’s event, Sandra Corkin, Managing Director of Oasis Travel said; “We were delighted to welcome a ‘full house’ to our 2016 Fair and to showcase the astonishing variety of cruise holidays which are available to today’s travellers. From value vacations to ultimate luxury; from luxe breaks for sophisticated couple to fun breaks for all the family, cruising offers something to suit almost every taste and budget. As the Oasis Travel Northern Ireland Cruise Fair also demonstrated, there’s a whole world of travel opportunities out there waiting to be discovered. While we were inside, preparing to showcase river cruising in Europe, sailing the Caribbean, discovering the Norwegian Fjords and much, much more, a huge cruise liner was slipping gently out from Belfast Harbour, ready to provide its passengers with pampered adventure … pure inspiration!”
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