Dream day out on visit to No1

Children whose dreams have already come true thanks to a charity in Midhurst were given another reality check when they met Prime Minister Gordon Brown this week.

One of those invited up to No10 Downing Street by the national charity Dreams Come True was four-year-old Matthew Kill from Felpham, Bognor Regis.

Matthew met up with dozens of other children and their parents from all over the country on Monday and spent two hours inside the famous terraced house, meeting Mr Brown and his wife Sarah for 20 minutes.

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His wish was to go to Euro Disney in Paris which was fulfilled by DCT in May when he met all his favourite characters, and went on most of the rides.

"It has just been marvellous," said his mum Vanessa. "It is really lovely to talk to Gordon Brown and to be invited up here.

"It was great to meet Kelly Holmes as well because of what she has done to organise this too '“ it was perfect.

"It was a good chance to meet the people from other areas with similar difficulties to Matthew and talk to them about their situation."

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Matthew was born with hemiplegia, a form of paralysis, and suffered a blood clot at birth which resulted in him having to have his right arm amputated.

Due to his difficult birth, he suffers seizures and has speech problems which he will have to deal with all his life.

His dad Steve said: "It has been difficult at times, it was difficult when he was first born. Life is getting a little bit easier and he is going to go to a mainstream school. I think it is great of Gordon in his busy schedule to spend 20 minutes with us."

Speaking to the guests, Mr Brown said: "What you do for each other makes me proud of Britain and proud of the communities from which you come.

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"Let's hope that in the next year more dreams can come true and we can help more people who need our help and support."

The trip was also a celebration of the charity's 20th anniversary. It was brought about by the charity's ambassador Dame Kelly Holmes who wrote to Mrs Brown telling her about the charity, which resulted in the children being invited to London.

"I'm glad we had the opportunity to come and meet the prime minister," she said. "He has really made their day.

"These opportunities come around very seldom. The experiences and the excitement they had, people do not get that opportunity much in life."

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