Superfan Heather meets Jamie

It was the day the local Jamie Dornan superfan not only got to meet her idol, but had his undivided attention for some 40 minutes.

Jamie took time out of his busy filming schedule on the BBC crime series ‘The Fall’, to meet, chat to, and pose for photographs with Heather, a trainee wedding stationery crafter with Stepping Stones.

Heather considered the meeting a huge honour.

“I have been a fan of Jamie for a long time,” she said, “but I never imagined my dream to meet him would actually come true.

“It was amazing to meet him and I am grateful to everyone who made it happen.”

It was Heather’s colleagues at Stepping Stones, Chief Officer Paula Jennings and Marketing and Business Development Manager Ciara Brennan, who helped to arrange the meeting.

Knowing she was a huge fan and that Jamie was in Northern Ireland, they decided to put a request out on Facebook to locate him.

It wasn’t long before they were bombarded with scores of messages from people close to him.

Said Paula: “I always knew Heather was a massive fan.

“ When I popped into Pink Elephant Cards and got chatting to Heather she told me of her dream to meet Jamie Dornan, so I said then we will make it happen, not knowing how.”

The actor, who played Mr Grey in the widely acclaimed film ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ and Paul Spectre in The Fall, spoke of his own delight at meeting Heather.

“It was a real pleasure to invite Heather down to the set of ‘The Fall’,” he said. “She is a fantastic girl and it was wonderful to meet her.”

Heather presented expectant father Jamie with a picture frame for his baby (the frame was made by trainees at Stepping Stones NI) and a thank-you card she made at Pink Elephant Cards.

Stepping Stones NI is an award-winning, Lisburn-based charity operating six social enterprises which serve as a training facility for adults with a learning disability or difficulty. All profits are reinvested to support their clients.

With four coffee shops, a wedding stationery business and a Guild Commended Picture Framing service, Stepping Stones NI now employs over 60 staff and has 170 clients. The charity secured Social Enterprise of the Year and Best Health & Social Care Social Enterprise in the latest Social Enterprise NI Awards.