"Thank you for making my Christmas extra special – seeing Aaron being a normal kid, laughing and having fun, was the best Christmas gift any one could give me."
This simple email encapsulates the heart of Special Children's Christmas Parties. Held annually in different locations around New Zealand, these parties for special needs kids, their families and caregivers, offer young people whose lives can be a daily challenge the opportunity to be regular kids for a day.
Launched in Australia around 30 years ago, Special Children's Christmas Parties jumped across the ditch to Aotearoa in 1998.
The inaugural event in Wellington saw 1200 special needs kids and their carers come together to celebrate the festive season. Nearly 20 years later, 10,000 people from around the country gather annually at these unique events.
Mark Wikstrom is the event coordinator for Special Children's Christmas Parties. He says the parties, supported by many local businesses around the country, are the highlight of many children's year.
The parties are invite-only events. Organisers contact local charities and schools in the areas where the events are being held and ask them to calculate how many children they know of who would like to attend. The charities and schools then distribute tickets to the families.
As some of the attendees live a few hours away from the parties, transport often has to be organised. Local bus companies chip in with free transport to and from the events – the journey can be a pretty big deal in itself.
"We had a couple of children from Wanganui attend a party in Palmerston North recently; it was the first time they had ever left the town," says Wikstrom.
Some children make a two-hour trip to get to the event, so it's a huge day out for kids who don't get the opportunity to venture very far from home.
The party itself is an extravaganza of food and fun. As well as a delicious Christmas meal, the kids are also treated to over three hours of entertainment, courtesy of local performers. Each performance is around 20 minutes long, including cheerleaders, dance groups and other performers – pure Christmas cheer.
"It is a really bright and beautiful stage show," says Wikstrom who talks of an email he received after a party in Porirua: "A grandparent of two children in wheelchairs told us they didn't stop dancing in their chairs and squealing with delight from the moment the entertainment started until it stopped.
"This sort of reaction is really typical of the experience children have when they attend the parties."
After the food and entertainment, all children attending the Special Children's Christmas Party are given toys to take home with them. The logistics of bringing toys to 10,000 children around the country would challenge even Santa's delivery skills.
"Every year we receive six 40-foot containers packed full of toys," Wikstrom says. "It's a pretty impressive sight!"
The events take part around New Zealand – from Ashburton to Auckland – and there are also two mid-year events special needs children can attend.
The parties are staffed by volunteers sourced from the ranks of the key sponsors and people are always keen to get involved.
The Auckland event will take place at ASB Showgrounds on Saturday, December 9 and the attendees will have already received their much-anticipated invitations.
While the event is invite-only, the organisers still welcome advice on charities and schools that may know of special needs children who may enjoy this big day out.