Behind The Wish: Airlie Clarke

Meet Airlie Clarke, a key part of Make-A-Wish's Virtual Star Catchers Team.

Airlie says bringing wishes to life gives her joy and renewed energy for life.

Behind The Wish is our series of inspirational reads diving into the everyday superheroes involved in creating life-changing wishes.

Welfare part of day job

I was born in Adelaide and grew up there too. At the moment I live by the beach.

I am the head of pastoral care at my school, which is essentially well being. It’s about 270 kids that I look after in conjunction with their teachers.

I have done that for some time now, so I guess that’s why I got into Make-A-Wish to try something new and challenging.

I love my job and I love connecting with people. I think that’s definitely one of my skills.

Wishes a nice escape from COVID

When I was applying for Make-A-Wish, my husband Jake was very interested as well. The Virtual Star Catchers Team had just started and they were looking for people who had experience working with children.

My husband started a business of his own, so he became flat out - in the end it was just me who signed up.

I remember around the time of COVID, it felt like there were so many negative things in the world and I thought to myself, 'What can I do that’s positive?'

Something that would be a nice escape for me from everything that was going on.

I did have a connection already with Make-A-Wish. When I was at high school, I was a house captain and our charity was Make-A-Wish.

We used to do all these fundraisers like car washes to raise money for Make-A-Wish.

Our head of house at that time was Vickie Lester, who for a long time has been a big part of the Barossa Valley Branch of Make-A-Wish. She has always been an inspiration for me.

I always thought that as far as charities go, Make-A-Wish was the best and that they must make magic happen. I always thought that one day I would volunteer my time with Make-A-Wish.

One of my best friends, Demi, has cystic fibrosis and she was granted a wish.

My skillset is definitely in communicating with children, given I am a teacher.

And working in the wellbeing space, I am across the research about what positively supports wellbeing and I know that volunteering is an active practice that’s good for your own wellbeing, so that was another reason I wanted to do it.

Joining the Virtual Star Catchers Team was the option presented to me by Make-A-Wish.

They felt my skillset would be perfect for that virtual team. And it suited me perfectly too.

It’s handy that there’s no travel time because I already do a lot of travelling for my job.

I travel about 45 minutes each way every day for work. So it suits me to just jump on Zoom for Make-A-Wish.

I am the Assistant Wish Coordinator in the team.

Lesley Prout is the main person in the team and I am the assistant. When she is on holidays, I take the reins.

WISHES

The day Airlie met Airlie

I remember Lesley said, 'We have this new wish for a girl called Airlie,' and I put my hand up and said, ‘I have to be part of this wish!'

Obviously, Airlie is not a common name and I have only ever met one other person who shares the name.

I really wanted to be on this wish, so it was assigned to me. The little girl, Airlie was freaking out as well. She’d never met anyone called Airlie. We really kind of bonded over that.

She wasn’t quite sure what she wanted her wish to be, so we did a second Wish Capture. And she decided she wanted to go to Airlie Beach, which is so cool. And I happened to have just been there.

So then we were talking about how we can never find anything with our name on it but I said, 'When you go to Airlie Beach, everything has got the name Airlie written on it.'

She hasn’t been on her wish yet but that connection was so lovely. Her nickname is Airz, which is mine too. It was a really special connection.

It’s hard to describe how much I want her wish to go well. There was so much joy in that conversation we had about Airlie Beach.

It’s the reason we do all of this, for that joy. The phone call was just full of joy.

There was another wish that stands out. The wish girl wanted to see a unicorn fly. It was one of the first wishes I did.

I was relatively new to the team. And I said to myself, ‘I don’t know how they are going to make a unicorn fly.'

She was only little, maybe four years old. To realise that the team can actually make those amazing wishes happen, that are so special to children, is an incredible feat of creativity.

It was something I felt maybe was out of the realm of possibility, but it was able to happen.

Admiration for 'amazing' parents

The Wish Journey makes a difference from a wellbeing perspective. I think the ability to have something to look forward to can't be underestimated.

The whole Journey means so much. I think Make-A-Wish makes such an impact, it’s an experience in life that’s memorable forever.

It’s something that families can hold onto.

The impact it has on siblings is significant too. Their lives are often affected, so coming along on the Wish Journey is really important for them.

One of the great parts of capturing wishes is the interactions you have with parents of wish kids.

You get to talk to them about positive things, at a time when they are having the most difficult experience of their lives.

So, for 30 or 45 minutes you can chat to them only about positive things. They are incredible in terms of their resilience and making things very special for their kids.

They understand how important joy in childhood is.

They often thank me for giving up my time, which is so lovely of them.

They are juggling so many appointments, yet they are able to find time for us to take them on a Wish Journey.

Picture: Airlie with husband Jake.

'Every time I get off a Make-A-Wish call, I am a buzzing'

I think Make-A-Wish definitely puts things into perspective. It gives you perspective on what matters in life – and what doesn’t.

The need to not sweat the small stuff - that is actually so true. I think Make-A-Wish also gives me a sense of gratitude for each day.

And when things are going really well, to take a moment to realise and appreciate that.

I think Make-A-Wish has increased my empathy and I think also the understanding that everybody is fighting a battle that others don’t know about. Some of these children, you can see very obviously the battle they are fighting but with other children, it’s not necessarily something that you are able to see.

I think having that sense of humanity with whoever you encounter in the world and reminding yourself that everyone is going through something is important. And if they are not today, then at some stage they will. I think having that empathy for people has kind of shifted my perspective around people’s plights.

Every single time I get off a Make-A-Wish call, I am a buzzing. When you jump on a call after a full day of work you think you’re going to leave that call feeling more tired but you leave with renewed energy. You definitely feel joy, excitement, anticipation being part of Make-A-Wish.

Working full-time, it is tricky to find the time for Make-A-Wish.

But when you commit to something, it’s almost like a time investment back to yourself.

It’s amazing what you get to be a part of for the child but you have almost also just booked in a time to feel good.

I didn’t realise it was going to be like that when I started but now I know two times a week I am going to have the best time and leave a call buzzing.

I can’t think of anything else I do that gives me the same feeling.

I have been to Disneyland and I think I experienced less of a high at Disneyland.

I have no intention of moving away from Make-A-Wish. I don’t see a future where that happens.

But if that times comes that I do leave, I hope people see me as someone who brought energy.

Even though we are a virtual team, we do have monthly meetings and you do feel a sense of community. I like to think I value every volunteer and the skills they bring.

Airlie has been a proud volunteer since 2022