A eight-year-old boy who woke one morning unable to walk is set to raise the Alder Hey Children's Charity flag next week as the world's first charity embassy is set to open at Southport Pleasureland.
Frankie Bowen made headlines when a video of him moonwalking to Billie Jean went viral, just two years after he woke up not being able to move.
Frankie was diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis and struggled to walk. He has since made great progress and has taken on a role at the Alder Hey Children's Charity.
He is now a charity ambassador for the children’s hospital and set to raise the flag for the first time at the inauguration of the embassy, a joint initiative between Southport Pleasureland and the charity.
The tourist attraction will be home to the Alder Hey children’s charity embassy, giving the charity a space to hold fundraisers on the grounds of the amusement park.
The new embassy will be in line with diplomatic tradition, where the charity will hold a piece of territory within the theme park.
The embassy will be opened with an inauguration featuring locally-based foreign consuls.
The inauguration is to be held on Tuesday, June 1, with a conference to feature local representatives and politicians.
Pleasureland CEO, Norman Wallis, said: “We are really happy to do this for Alder Hey Children’s Charity. They are our chosen charity and we want them to feel at home so we thought, what better way to do that than create an authentic ‘home from home’ with a dedicated Embassy.
“The charity raises vital funds to help make Alder Hey Children’s Hospital a truly world class, patient-friendly hospital for the 330,000 patients and families they care for each year and we are sure park visitors will consider supporting a charity that is so important to us all.”
The idea has won backing from international diplomats including honorary consul of Tunisia Robert Burnett-Hughes, Consul of Iceland JA Brown and Honorary Consul of San Marino, Dr Maurizio Bragagni.
Dr Bragagni said: "The Honorary Consul of San Marino was very pleased to learn about the establishment of the first ever children’s charity embassy and would like to extend his warm wishes and every success toward fulfilling its noble mission.
"The Alder Hey Children’s Charity Embassy at Southport Pleasureland will play an important role in making sure park visitors will consider supporting a charity that is so important to us all and has proven to do such incredible work to improve healthcare."
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