Nomination FAQs
Dreamflight only accepts nominations from medical or educational professionals. Nominations are often completed by specialist/community nursing teams but must be authorised by the doctor/consultant responsible for the child’s care. We do not accept nominations from family members or guardians.
For the Orlando trip, children must be aged between 8 and 14 on the date of travel.
For the UK trip, children must be aged between 8 and 16 on the date of travel.
Please see our Medical Director’s Letter and Neurodivergence Guidance document for more detailed information about nominations or contact the office on 01494 722733 or office@dreamflight.org
Dreamflight only accepts nominations from medical or educational professionals (not from families or guardians). Please read the Medical Director letter, Neurodivergence information and the criteria and then nominate via our online form.
You can nominate a child at any point throughout the year, however there are cut off dates for each trip, and any nominations after the cut off date will be considered for the following year. The deadline for the Orlando trip is early May, and for the UK trip is November.
We may need to occasionally pause nominations if we receive too many applications.
To avoid disappointment, we strongly recommend that nominations are not discussed with children until the selection process is complete. We receive a large number of nominations each year, which are reviewed by Dreamflight’s Medical Director and our Group Leaders. During the selection process a member of the Dreamflight office team, or a regional Dreamflight Group Leader may contact the nominator to gain more information if needed.Once the selections have been made a regional Group Leader or the Dreamflight Office will contact the nominator directly to let them know the outcome.
We aim to invite those children selected for the UK trip by early December. If selected, nominators will be informed, and the child will receive an invitation in the post, along with forms for the parent/guardian to complete and return. Once invited, pre-trip online meetings are arranged so families, guardians and Dreamflight children can meet each other and have any questions answered. Dreamflight volunteers and the office are always on hand to support.
We aim to invite those children selected for the Orlando trip by early July. If selected, nominators will be informed, and children are allocated to one of our 12 regional UK groups and will receive an invitation in the post, along with forms for the parent/guardian to complete and return. Once invited, pre-trip meetings are arranged so families, guardians and Dreamflight children can meet their groups and have any questions answered. Dreamflight Group Leaders and the office are always on hand to support.
We aim to send invitations out by February for the UK trip, and early summer for the Orlando trip. We recommend that children are not told about the trip until an invitation arrives, to avoid disappointment.
No! Dreamflight funds all aspects of the child’s experience, including travel, accommodation, meals, theme park entry, refreshments and a small amount of spending money in Orlando. It is a fully-funded holiday.
However, we do rely very heavily on volunteers and supporters to help us raise the funds we need each year. When they are able to, some families choose to fundraise for Dreamflight and we are very grateful to them. But there is no obligation for a family to fundraise for Dreamflight.
Families don’t accompany the children on a Dreamflight holiday. Instead the children are supported by a team of volunteers, including doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and non-medical guides. This experience helps to develop a child’s independence and confidence.
Once selected for Dreamflight, the children are placed into one of our 12 regional groups, led by experienced volunteers. We take the time to get to know each and every child and make sure they are comfortable in the lead up to the holiday. We have taken over 6,700 children to Orlando and in our experience, any shyness falls away during the trip as they are too busy making friends and having fun!
