Seriously ill children were left disappointed after their plans for a Christmas visit to 10 Downing Street were scrapped.
Organisers of Dreams and Wishes, a Welsh charity which provides support to the families of children with life-threatening conditions, have been taking groups to Westminster for the past 30 years.
The children usually have lunch in Speakers’ House in parliament before going to Downing Street for a tour in a tradition which dates back to when John Major was prime minister.
Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle posted about this year’s visit on his Instagram page, saying he had been “so honoured” to meet some of the children being helped by the charity.
However, Dreams and Wishes were told just days before they were due to come to London that a visit to Number 10 would not be possible.
Tony Curtis MBE, the founder of the Newport-based charity, told HuffPost UK that the annual vistis are “all about creating special memories for special children and their families”.
“Sadly, some of these children may not see another Christmas, so it’s about doing something that their parents can look back on and say ‘that was an amazing thing to do’,” he said.
The charity boss added: “Apart from during Covid, there’s only been a couple of times in the last 30 years when we’ve not been able to go into Downing Street.
“We usually have lunch with the Speaker and Father Christmas will come and visit the children in Speakers House.
“We’ll then usually go over to Number 10 and the children get treated like VIPs and they get a full tour. On many occasions the prime minister has come to see the children as well.”
Curtis said the charity first notified Downing Street in September of the day they were coming to Westminster this Christmas.
Despite numerous phone calls, he said confirmation never came that the children would be able to visit Number 10 this year.
Then, with just days to go until the trip, Downing Street emailed the charity to confirm they would not be able to visit.
A Downing Street source told HuffPost UK that the charity last visited Number 10 in 2018, but that this year it had not been possible to arrange a time for them to come in.
Curtis said: “I’ve been in Number 10 many times, but the families haven’t, so it was very sad for them and the children that it couldn’t happen this year.”