The children’s charity Make-A-Wish® UK has launched a campaign to inspire and involve families who are experiencing isolation for the first time.

With schools closed, events cancelled and many parents and carers working from home, the charity’s 14-day email activity series invites people to subscribe online and to share their creations and ideas on social media using #StayHomeStars.

The campaign taps into the knowledge that some of the wish families that the charity supports have because, for them, isolation is nothing new because they experienced it – and may still be – after their children was diagnosed with a critical illness.

They, and some of the charity’s influencer supporters, have shared their wisdom on how they dealt with the situation – from creating a pirate ship out of cardboard hospital bowls to playing boardgames or creating a music playlist.

The campaign also asks those who can, to text the word STARS to the number 70450 to donate £3 to secure future wishes. As venues, events, travel operators and suppliers have temporarily closed, more than 1000 serious ill children’s wishes now have an uncertain future.

This is because not only has the Coronavirus forced families to stay at home, it has changed the fundraising landscape, as the charity’s chief executive Jason Suckley explained:

We have had to cancel or postpone 2000 wishes as a result of the virus. That’s 2000 children who are now waiting for their wish.

That means that right now, critically ill children are in isolation with nothing to look forward to.

We are heartbroken. But we are determined to get back to granting these wishes as soon as it is safe to do so.