Be The Magic - My Story

MY STORY

Yes it was me... Ellie Kay who conceived the concept behind "Be The Magic". I am 14 and live in Poole in Dorset.

I have been involved in raising money for local charitable initiatives since I was just 6 years old when I started selling sweets one Christmas at home to benefit local children's hospice, Julia's House.

Myself and my sister may have only raised £28 that year but it was the start of my journey wanting to help children who may not be as able as me to fulfill certain dreams of any size.

After some difficult family times connected to our health including the safe arrival of my brother Josh, myself and my sister Lauren then raised over £1300 for Poole Hospital Charity by selling sweet bags. This money supported direct investments in equipment connected to the Children's Ward and Maternity Ward.

When my mum offered to help local friends and their son Ethan Burney, who has a rare illness called Aarksog Syndrome, which affects his mobility and his sight, I got involved in that also.

A short initiative to enable Ethan to get special glasses then transformed with my mum's leadership, in to Ethan's Wishes.

Ethan's Wishes grew with the support of many wonderful supporters and his dream of visiting Disney World before he loses his sight, which is now set to come true.

Raising many thousands of pounds has made a huge difference to Ethan and I am proud to have been involved in supporting that initiative.

We then also got introduced to Jacob Buckett, whose mum Amanda worked tirelessly to raise funds to enable him to receive an operation to give him the chance to walk. Jacob has cerebral palsy. It was a pleasure to have a short involvement with this initiative also.

As momentum grew, the Dorset Children's Foundation was a wonderful place to introduce these children to and I hence became a Youth Ambassador for them. I recently ended my Ambassador role there to focus on this project.

I have more great plans to help others through this #BeTheMagic initiative and the children I have supported that are now part of the DCF continue to be magical to me.

Here is a link of me speaking at the Porsche Event for the DCF in May 2017. You can get an idea of my passion and drive for this project via this. I was speaking about Ethan Burney at the time.

Check it out

In early 2017, I also managed to support the DCF to become one of AFC Bournemouth’s official charities for the forthcoming 2017/2018 Premier League Season. This was through my work on the AFC Bournemouth Family Forum where I have been an active member over recent momentous seasons.

Thanks to General Manager Liz Finney for all her support there which enabled me to help the DCF get the appropriate applications complete in time. Seeing that relationship evolve from the outside has been a pleasure and there were many positive engagements with the club throughout the season.

I also visited Give Kids The World in Florida in 2017 and I hope to raise funds to help children with life threatening illness visit there. Please click the link in this section of text to watch a wonderful inspiring video.

Finally, in the last 18 months I have been the victim of bullying! I would often wonder why with all the support I have given other children that I would be picked on the way I have been.

Without going in to the detail, this experience however has eventually just added to my inner strength, which I want to use to help others.

Since going through such a tough time, I found that helping others was great for me and makes myself feel so much happier and the feeling of giving back is priceless.

So in comes Dorset Mind and their Dorset Mind Your Head school initiative and I am now pleased to begin supporting this. This in turn will hopefully offer signposting and support services for others who may not have such supportive parents, carers or friends, which I am fortunate to have. Those that really stand by you through difficult times.

I want to help others see the beauty of doing what makes you happy, no matter what that may be, due to the fact that ultimately that is key to helping teen mental health.

Be The Magic has evolved from this journey and not just from my own personal desire to keep going but my feeling that there are so many more great stories out their where you can direct your thoughts to Be The Magic to help other children too.

Join me and #BeTheMagic