Our History

His incredible life was also affected by serious illness, tragedy and loss. It was his personal experiences of illness – of his own and his close family – which spurred Roald Dahl to help seriously ill children and their families.

Roald Dahl believed in taking practical steps to improve the lives of those around him. His creativity and determination even helped to develop pioneering new medical treatments such as the Wade-Dahl-Till valve. This device was used to help thousands of children with hydrocephalus. Roald Dahl also generously gave his time and money to help seriously ill children and their families, including many he never met.

Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity continues this part of Roald Dahl’s legacy.

We were created in memory of Roald Dahl (originally as the Roald Dahl Foundation) by his widow Felicity, shortly after his death in 1991. Sir Quentin Blake helped to found our charity having been a huge part of Roald Dahl's life and stories, and remains a dedicated supporter and Co-President. His artwork is a crucial part of our brand and he supports us through fundraising, campaigns and in other ways.

Over the last 30 years we have achieved a number of firsts and have been able to work closely with the NHS to support how specialist nursing can change the care and support of seriously ill children.