An Armagh charity supporter could soon be jetting off on the trip of a lifetime after reaching the final of the Jet2holidays Party Plane competition.
Lorraine Stevenson, 43, has been chosen from thousands of entries and is now in with a chance of winning the ultimate money can’t buy prize – a weekend in Majorca flying on her very own party plane with 99 of her friends and family, complete with celebrity guest Rylan Clark-Neal.
Lorraine, with help from her husband Roy, submitted her ‘Roy and Lorraine Back to the Zoo’ Party Plane entry, to raise money for the Children’s Heartbeat Trust and Pretty ‘n’ Pink charities.
Lorraine said she was delighted at the news
“Right from the start I have said I want to help people and this is going to help raise funds for a wee boy who has had a very difficult start to his life, and my dear friend who will finish her chemotherapy treatment at the end of March,” she added.
The UK’s second largest tour operator launched its Party Plane competition to celebrate the arrival of its 100th aircraft into its fleet. Jet2holidays colleagues toured the UK calling on party-goers to get creative and choose their own party theme to enter the competition.
Lorraine’s friend Shauna Cassidy‘s little boy Conor spent his first year in hospital after he was diagnosed with an atrioventricular septal defect. The Children’s Heartbeat Trust provided financial support and counselling to Conor’s family over the last 12 months.
Lorraine’s friend Maria Kelly was diagnosed with breast cancer last October and has recently completed her chemotherapy. Pretty ‘n’ Pink has been supporting Maria, 41, who will be starting radiotherapy and is hoping to join the Party Plane with Rylan.
If successful in winning, Lorraine and Roy will bring guests of all ages to celebrate in Majorca.
Speaking about her entry, Lorraine said she wanted winning to mean something rather than just a party so they decided to raise £5000 with the help of guests.
“This then would be split equally between two charities that are especially important to me.
“We would really like to win and have the weekend away with Jet2holidays, but more importantly we want to raise the money that will make a difference to both charities in Northern Ireland and the work they do,” she said.
The nine finalists from across the UK were chosen by Rylan himself.
He said: “I was absolutely blown away by the thousands of entries Jet2holidays received. It was really hard to whittle it down to just nine finalists as the standard of entries was so high.
“I would like to say a huge congratulations to Lorraine on making the final and wish her lots of luck. I can’t wait to get on board and join the lucky winner and their friends and family for a weekend of celebrating in sunny Majorca. It’s going to be an unforgettable trip,” he added.
The winning VIP group will jet off from one of the company’s nine UK bases on Friday 26 April and head to the 4-star Melia Calvia Beach in Majorca for the weekend.
The public can now vote for Lorraine’s entry by visiting www.partyplane.jet2holidays.com. Voting will remain open until 6pm on Wednesday (April 3).
The winner will be announced the following day.