Spread a Smile Smile Hampers 2022

Christmas roundup

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Christmas is always a busy time of year for Spread a Smile because it’s a time when the families we support need us most.
For children and young people battling serious or terminal illness, Christmas can mean time spent in hospital, undergoing treatment and separated from family and friends. It can mean time feeling very very unwell and unable to go out and do the Christmassy things that we associate with the season.
So we make it our mission to bring the magic of Christmas and as much joy and laughter to the children we support and their families. In total, more than 4,500 children will be reached through our Christmas activities and thanks to the generous support of our donors and volunteers, here’s how we’ve done it…
We’ve sent out 700 personalised Smile Hampers containing a total of 5,600 gifts across the UK for children and their siblings. Take a look at our ‘Smile Hamper’ film here.
218 volunteers gave up 763 hours of their time to help pack the gifts and each Hamper was full of gifts kindly donated by our wonderful supporters and hand picked with each child in mind.
The Hampers were delivered by our Entertainers door-to-door thanks to 17 brilliant volunteer taxi drivers who transported us safely between destinations.
We are reaching and supporting all 27 of our partner hospitals through our Christmas activities this year. A whopping 3,500 gifts have been delivered to our hospitals for children on the wards to receive for Christmas.

Spread a Smile Christmas Grotto

Our Entertainers once again joined Santa at the North Pole for our virtual Christmas grotto and over 400 children met Santa online over 10 days. For those children stuck in hospital or bed bound this made a massive difference and will provide lasting joyful memories for the whole family.

 

We’re running a variety of individual and virtual group sessions in the lead up to and around Christmas to continue to provide joy and distraction during the festive period. Some of our Entertainers will also be visiting Hospitals in person on Christmas Day!
If you would like to help spread some Christmas cheer, please support our Christmas Appeal by making a donation.
Just £25 could help pay for a child to meet Santa in our virtual grotto and receive a special gift. Donate Now

Spread a Smile is proud to deliver all of the above to support our families and hospital partners. However none of it would be possible without our brilliant donors and volunteers. So thank you to…

  • Those who donated financially to support our Christmas activities
  • Those who sent a gift for our Smile Hampers and hospital deliveries
  • All of the amazing companies who donated larger numbers of gifts: Aurora World, Barry M, BlackRock, Casetify UK, Cheatwell Games, Derwent Art, Ginger Fox UK, Hasbro, Hunter Price International, Insurance Claims Accomodation Bureau (ICAB), Lush, Men Kind, OTL Technologies, Rainbow Designs Ltd, Spin Master, Swizzels and Wicked Uncle Toys
  • The volunteers who gave up their time to come into the office to wrap and pack: Caroline Lisberg, Carolyn Klaus, Ged Arnold, Freya Melling, Holly Gardner, Louise Jacobs, Megan McGee, Joshua Saul, Andrew Lobb, Liz Gould, Sarah Lennerd plus teams from the following brilliant companies 1 to 3 Coffee Ltd, BlackRock, Blink, Bregal Milestone, Camp Beaumont, Cedar Recruitment, CJC IT, Hasbro, Hain Daniels, Hilco Capital, JNE Partners, LEGO group, LMAC Group, OSB Group, Sharesy, Texel Foundation and Uncommon.
  • WC Hackney Carriage Drivers, Kinetic IT Ltd and DPD for helping to deliver the Smile Hampers and hospital gifts
  • Santa and our amazing Entertainers for their energy and passion
  • Our NHS Hospital Partners, Hospices, staff and teams for being so brilliant.