Christmas comes early for five year old Virgin Media super fan

Virgin Media surprises Birmingham youngster by making his Christmas wish come true

Five year old aspiring engineer, Preston Chandra, had the surprise of a lifetime when Virgin Media made his Christmas wish come true.

The youngster, who wants to be a “Virgin Media man” when he grows up, is so fascinated by the company  that his grandmother wrote to its CEO, Tom Mockridge, to explain that her grandson’s Christmas wish was for his very own engineer uniform and ID badge.

Virgin Media was so touched by Preston’s enthusiasm that they surprised him and his family in their hometown of Longbridge, Birmingham, with a visit from two local engineers, Craig Paul and Andrew Tabberer, who delivered his very own kit – a personalised uniform, ID badge and electric ride-on toy ‘van’. Among the gifts was a letter from Mr Mockridge inviting Preston to a special training session so he could learn all about the company’s network, equipment and how to become an engineer – the youngest recruit Virgin Media has ever had.

Preston and his family were delighted by the surprises and the youngster ‘couldn’t wait to go to Virgin’, which he did on Saturday 24 November, visiting the company’s office in Sheldon, Birmingham, where he was given a fast-track lesson on how to install broadband, telephone and TV services.

Preston’s mother, Marie Chandra, said, “I’m still lost for words to be honest! I can’t believe what Virgin Media did for Preston to make his Christmas wish come true. He hasn’t stopped talking about it since. He can’t wait until he turns 17 so he can take his driving test and join the work force!”

The engineers who surprised Preston were blown away by his outstanding knowledge of cables and equipment and hope to see him again when he’s old enough to join the team.

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About Virgin Media

Virgin Media offers four multi award-winning services across the UK and Ireland: broadband, TV, mobile phone and landline.

Our dedicated, ultrafast network delivers the fastest widely-available broadband speeds to homes and businesses and we’re expanding this through our Project Lightning programme, which could extend our network to up to 17 million premises.

Our interactive Virgin TV service brings live TV, thousands of hours of on-demand programming and the best apps and games to customers through a set-top box, as well as on-the-go through tablets and smartphones.

Virgin Mobile launched the world’s first virtual mobile network and offers fantastic value and innovative services with 4G connectivity. We are also one of the largest fixed-line home phone providers in the UK and Ireland.

Through Virgin Media Business we support entrepreneurs, businesses and the public sector, delivering the fastest widely available broadband speeds and tailor-made services.

Virgin Media is part of Liberty Global, the world’s largest international TV and broadband company. Liberty Global connects 21 million customers through operations in 10 countries across Europe subscribing to 45 million TV, broadband internet and telephony services. It also serves 6 million mobile subscribers and offers WiFi service through 12 million access points across its footprint.