The Spread a Smile Fundraising Dinner was held on Wednesday 8 May 2019. Over 400 people were entertained by Spread a Smile’s wonderful magicians, and they heard about the work, achievements and ambitions of the charity. The fantastic Spread a Smile choir opened the evening with their debut performance. The choir is formed of current and former patients and their families and they gave a fantastic, heartwarming performance. Spread a Smile’s new film was also premiered, and magicians entertained guests at their tables.
Guests heard from Andrea, who spoke about how Spread a Smile helped her daughter, Keeva, following her cancer diagnosis. “Spread a Smile came along and they were so jolly and welcoming and lovely, it gave us the uplift that we needed….For Keeva, it was her one thing during the week that she looked forward to the most. Spread a Smile would come in and Keeva’s face lit up like a firework. It was like an explosion of joy for her to see something new and exciting.”
On the evening, Spread a Smile announced its plans for growth, which will be possible thanks to the generous donations made on the evening. By the end of the year, we plan to be making over 23 hospital visits a month in six hospitals (currently five), enabling us to spread smiles to 7,000 bedsides each year (a growth of a thousand extra children and teenagers).