BARNSLEY Hospital staff held a cake and bake sale on the children’s services ward for a charity who take children with a serious illness or disability on the holiday of a lifetime to the theme parks of Orlando in Florida.

Dreamflight take 192 children aged between eight and 14 to Florida every year.

The trips bring some joy into the lives of children whose conditions have brought them pain, distress and disruption.

Dreamflight is not just a holiday, but can be a life changing experience for these children.

They are accompanied by volunteer escorts – mostly from the medical professions – and people who have supported and fundraised throughout the year.

Zena Thomas, children’s respiratory nurse who is also one of the volunteers who goes on the trips, said: “The children have all been nominated to go by a health professional and are looked after by teams of healthcare professionals like night nurses and physios while they are on holiday.

“Looking after a child with a life-limiting condition is exhausting, and this gives their parents a chance to also go away separately and perhaps take other siblings too.

“Meanwhile, the kids in Florida gain independence and make friends for life.”