Charity breaks pledge for boy's dream holiday

Sue Berry, of Mill Road Avenue, was promised the money from the Children's Wish Foundation to help send her nine-year-old son Matthew to see his hero Steve Irwin, crocodile-mad television presenter and conservationist, at Australia Zoo.

Matthew, a pupil at St Margaret's in Angmering, has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a life-limiting genetic disorder which is gradually breaking down his muscles and forces him to use a wheelchair.

Matthew's 12-year-old brother Andrew, who has Asperger's syndrome, will also join him, Sue and a carer on the holiday, planned for next Christmas.

Sue needs 11,000 to pay for the holiday. She has so far raised 3,000 herself through her own money and donations from friends.

Midhurst-based charity Dreams Come True has promised 3,000 and another children's wish charity, Happy Days, has promised 1,000.

Sue had needed to raise only another 1,000 to turn the dream trip into a reality but with the gap left by The Children's Wish Foundation, that amount has now soared to 4,000.

The charity had promised the money in March last year but withdrew its offer following a move to America.

After it ceased its UK operations, the charity wrote to Sue to say that it would still honour its promise and donate the money, but just before Christmas Sue was told the devastating news.

She was also told that 27 other families in the UK had been let down by the charity in the same way.

Sue said: "The news came as an incredible shock because I had every confidence in them. There was no clue at any stage that anything could be going wrong.

"That's what made it worse. It would have been far better to have not promised the money in the first place but to promise it and then take it away, is immoral.

"Matthew's fairly positive about it, though. He was disappointed and cross but he's got great faith in his mum and I won't let him down."

Anyone who can help the Berrys meet their final target, should call Dreams Come True on 01730 815000.