WHAT A DAY

07 November 2024

‘What A Day’ by James O’Dwyer…

Waking up early on a crisp autumn morning to pick up the leopard lambo’s and the f1 sim and of course the Leigh Leopards mascot – Leeto… what will today bring?

“Excited for today not only to take these amazing cars to Alder Hey but also to meet these amazing kids and adults, I am so fortunate I get to do this.”

An early morning meet at AB Sundecks HQ to get all the cars and sim ready, which have all been valeted ready as we need to leave AB by 9.15 to make sure we are at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital for 10am.

The sun is shining and there is quite a crowd when we arrive. We are met by Barrie Wells and his amazing team and with the help of the Alder Hey maintenance staff we get F1 Sim set up and the cars in place.

The event starts at 11am in front of the main entrance and there is already quite a number of people gathering to look at the cars and test drive the F1 Simulator, we already know that this is going to be a great day.

At 11am the first group of children arrive, these little ones are from the hospital creche belonging to the amazing doctors and nurses at Alder Hey who come to work here everyday and bring their children so that they can seamlessly balance home and work. They loved exploring the different cars and investigating all the nooks and crannies of the Lamborghini Urus and the SV.

A short while later the children who are being cared for by the hospital start to appear, the delight on their faces is something to behold.

All three cars are very busy with both children and adults who want to take photos and sit in the vehicles. However, the F1 Simulator was definitely getting all the glory as children, staff and visitors all lined up to experience the thrill of formula one. Radio Merseyside’s Tom Walker is there to capture the day.

A little later Leeto, the Leigh Leopards mascot, made an appearance giving out miniature Leigh Leopards rugby balls and having lots of cuddles and photographs. The children were thrilled to meet Leeto and Leeto was thrilled to mee the children.

We could have stayed on all day but these amazing children and staff needed to return to their busy schedules inside the hospital.

“It was simply amazing and a pleasure, not only to showcase these wonderful cars and F1 Sim but to see the look and excitement and joy on the children’s faces. It was priceless. Some of these kids were very poorly and also had operations planned on the day we went to Alder Hey, however, they wanted to come outside and sit in the cars and experience the F1 Sim.

Displaying these cars at Alder Hey meant so much to these kids and they were extremely grateful. It really puts things into perspective seeing them with a smile on their face despite what they go through on a daily basis.”

We thanked all the staff for their help and support and hope that we can arrange another visit again soon.