Neil Helliwell, the lucky winner of the Skywards ‘Thanks a Million’ promotion at the 2010 Dubai World Cup, was presented with his prize of one million Skywards Miles by Brian LaBelle, Skywards – Senior Vice President.
The promotion by Skywards, the frequent-flyer programme from Emirates, raised over Dhs 186,000 for the Rashid Paediatric Therapy Centre and the kind-hearted British engineer immediately donated his prize to charity.
“I bought the winning ticket for my first grandson Monty. It’s fantastic – he’s only a couple of weeks old and he’s already a high flyer thanks to Skywards.
“However he’s a little young so hopefully the Skywards Miles can be put to good use by charities.â€
Mr Helliwell has donated enough Skywards Miles to send 22 people to destinations across Europe, or 19 passengers to the Far East, while the Americas or Australia could be reached by 12 or 13 people respectively.
“I am familiar with the fantastic service on Emirates,†added Mr Helliwell who is a Skywards gold card member. “So it is great to think that someone like a doctor or aid worker will be able to travel in luxury to a country where people need their help.â€
Neil was not the only person to get lucky at the Dubai World Cup. Paula Chisholm, 30, from the UK, and Michael Quinn, 32, from Ireland, also bought a winning ticket for the draw and each received 250,000 Skywards Miles, while at the Breakfast with the Stars event in the build up to race day Juilee Tullio, from Australia, also won 250,000 Skywards Miles.
Skywards – the award-winning loyalty programme which recently celebrated the entry of its five millionth member, has been running the ‘Thanks a Million’ promotion for 10 years and has raised over Dhs 2million for a number charitable causes such as Riding for the Disabled Association of Dubai (RDAD), UNICEF, UAE Red Crescent and others.
This year’s proceeds will be used to improve the facilities at the Rashid Paediatric Therapy Centre and support its therapy courses.
