The Osmonds are the latest big name celebrities to support sick children in Wales through the Noah’s Ark Appeal.

The Noah’s Ark Appeal/Children’s Hospital for Wales have signed up as a partner in the Children’s Miracle Network – a charity set up 25 years ago that now helps 175 premier children’s hospitals in North America and Canada. Children’s Miracle Network was co-founded by the Osmond Family. Now the charity is expanding into the UK and one of the first partners is the Noah’s Ark Appeal which raises money to build and support the Children’s Hospital for Wales.

Children’s Miracle Network, in partnership with children’s hospitals has raised a staggering $4billion since its inception and counts among its sponsors, multi-national organisations such as Disney, Microsoft, Delta, Walmart, Remax and Marriott and community organisation Foresters.

Each year, every children’s hospital in the Children’s Miracle network (or US state where there is more than one hospital) sends a champion child and their family to a festival at Disneyworld in Orlando to represent the hospital. The festival celebrates the magnificent work within children’s hospitals as well as honouring radiothon media partners, corporate sponsors and medics – ‘the miracle makers’. The children are also flown by Delta to Washington to meet the President of the USA.

The Children’s Hospital for Wales joins Bristol and Dublin hospitals in becoming a partner and in 2009 we will have the opportunity to nominate our ‘champion child’ to go to Disney.

Foresters is the Founding Sponsor of Children’s Miracle Network UK and is providing funding for special fundraising activities (to be revealed at the Osmonds press conference) and to take the Champion children to Orlando

Steve Dilworth, UK Membership Director, added “Foresters is honoured to be the founding sponsor of Children’s Miracle Network in the UK. Children are a priority in Foresters community support and we have seen the positive impact Children's Miracle Network programmes have had in Canada and the US.”

Director of the Noah’s Ark Appeal, Suzanne Mainwaring, said “It is a wonderful time for the Noah’s Ark Appeal and the Children’s Hospital for Wales to become a partner. We recently launched a campaign to raise a further £4m that will buy vital equipment such as an open MRI scanner, for phase two of the Children’s Hospital. Working with Children’s Miracle Network will open new doors for us and help us to raise this money. We are looking forward to sending our champion child and family to Disney – after all, we want the world to know what magnificent work goes on every day at the Children’s Hospital for Wales saving the lives of our precious children.”