⭐️ Emmett's Genies Ball

Saturday 28th October 2023, 7pm – 1am at The Spread Eagle Hotel, Thame.
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What we do

Emmett’s Genies was founded to help bring some Magic into the lives of children with serious or life-limiting conditions. We work with our NHS, Hospice & Charity partners to provide boredom relief, grant small wishes and provide memory-making, quality experiences for these children and their families.

Read Emmett's story
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While we work on referrals from wish granting charities and organisations, we would love to hear from you if you would like to get involved with Emmett’s Genies, or have a question for us.

Emmett's Story

Meet Emmett, the little boy that started us off on this magical journey

Emmett was two and a half years old in July 2018 when his parents noticed he had a lump. His GP referred him for an urgent ultrasound scan followed by a referral to the local paediatric oncology hospital. Emmett underwent surgery to remove the lump about two weeks after its discovery. On August 14th, 2018, the results of the surgery came back – the mass was cancerous, and Emmett was diagnosed with a stage one Germ Cell Tumour.  

The specialists appeared confident that the surgery had been sufficient to conquer this cancer but after monitoring Emmett for approximately one month, his blood results showed that this was not the case. Further scans revealed that the cancer had metastasised and had spread to his lungs, abdomen and lymph nodes. He started several months of gruelling chemotherapy treatment which resulted in many nasty side effects; along with losing his hair, he had severe sickness, mucositis (inflammation of the mucous membranes, such as in the mouth) and multiple infections worsened by neutropenia (low levels of white blood cells which help the body fight infection). In March 2019, Emmett was given “complete remission” status. He continues to be closely monitored for long-term chemotherapy effects and relapse for the foreseeable future.

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Due to the critical illness that Emmett had fought and the period of his childhood that he had lost Emmett was eligible for a wish through a wish granting charity. His dream was to meet his heroes Scooby Doo and the gang at Universal Studios in Florida. Make A Wish UK made this possible and in September 2019 Emmett, his baby sister and mum and dad, set off to Florida, USA, where they had the most magical week of their lives.  

They stayed at Give Kids the World which is a “kids’ village” that is exclusively for wish children and their families. Give Kids the World is one of the happiest places on the planet and they made sure that Emmett and his family had the most incredible week, enjoying a much-needed break away together after such a challenging year, and making life-long memories.  

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Our vision

Hugely inspired by the unique and wonderous retreat that is Give Kids the World, Emmett’s mum, Amy, came home determined to find a way to create something similar for other Wish Kids and their families in the UK. She felt that they deserve the same incredible opportunity that her family had experienced. A year of planning later and Emmett’s Genies was born. This registered charity has started small but will build until it can finally offer its vision of a wish kids’ village in England and the opportunity to bring joy and long-lasting memories to families and their wish kids.

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Meet the genies

Our wonderful team of trustees
Amy Scullard
Chair and Founding Trustee
About Amy
David Chang
Founding Trustee
About David
Graham Pettit
Founding Trustee
About Graham
Zoe Scullard
Founding Trustee
About Zoe
Joe Purnell
Trustee
Tim Haines
Ambassador & Advisor
About Tim
Rachel Millington & Tim Raidl
Ambassadors
Emmett O'Farrell
Emmett O’Farrell is a 7 year old cancer survivor and the inspiration for the charity.
Registered Charity Number: 1192340
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Amy Scullard
Chair and Founding Trustee

Amy first had the idea for Emmett’s Genies in September 2019; she put her ideas into action and by January 2020 she had recruited four other fantastic trustees. On the 11th January 2020 they had their first official trustee meeting. 

Amy is the mother of the charity’s inspiration, Emmett, and therefore has lived experience of having had a child who is critically unwell and who also had a wish granted. Amy has two children, works in the NHS as a Neurological Physiotherapist, having qualified in 2009, and in her spare time, loves doing charity work, playing netball, travelling and spending time with her wonderful family.  

David Chang
Founding Trustee

Dave was the first recruited trustee of Emmett’s Genies and has been on the Trustee Board since the charity’s creation in January 2020. He is the father of two children. Daniel, his son, was diagnosed with Burkitt’s Lymphoma and spinal cord compression trauma in 2018.

He is a Chartered Engineer with a background in English Literature and Creative Writing. He works as a project manager in the Engineering and Scientific Instrumentation industry. Dave is currently involved as an Associate Researcher in a UCL-led project in Paediatric Ambulatory Cancer Care.

Graham Pettit
Founding Trustee

Graham has been on the Trustee Board since the charity’s creation in January 2020. 

He is an experienced banking professional. A highly accomplished strategic, performance, and risk management consultant.

Graham has also served as Trustee, Director and Chair of a small national UK children’s disability charity.

Zoe Scullard
Founding Trustee

Zoe has been on the Trustee Board since the charity’s creation in January 2020. 

She has an extensive academic and practical background in the management of clinical placements and the support of student nurses with disabilities in practice.  

As well as being Emmett’s grandmother, Zoe has previously held positions as: 

  • Dean of Health Care (South), Health Education England 
  • Associate Dean Inter-Disciplinary Education, Health Education Thames Valley 
  • Principal Lecturer Practice Learning at Buckinghamshire New University  
Tim Haines
Ambassador & Advisor

After taking a degree in zoology, Tim Haines started his career as a medical journalist and went on to work in science programming at BBC Radio and TV. After producing shows for strands like Horizon and Tomorrow’s World, he created the VFX driven natural history series Walking with Dinosaurs which is rated as one of BBC’s top 20 shows of all time.

He then left the BBC and set up the production company Impossible Pictures and created both factual and drama series such as Prehistoric Park and Primeval. He wrote several books to accompany these shows and was awarded an honorary fellowship at Bangor University.  Recently he created an immersive experience called Dinosaurs in the Wild which toured the UK but has now opened in Riyadh.