Christmas is the busiest time of year for Spread a Smile as we go the extra mile to bring some of the excitement and joy of the festive season to as many of the families we support as possible.
This year has been no exception with Spread a Smile reaching even more families than ever before through our festive initiatives.
Smile Hampers
Between 1 November – 11 December 2023, an incredible 540 volunteers joined us at Spread a Smile HQ in London to pack 1,450 Smile Hampers to be delivered to seriously ill children and teenagers at home and in hospital and to their siblings too.
“Completely overwhelmed today with the gift Elijah got from Spread a Smile. I have one very happy, grateful boy this evening.” Parent
Over 10,000 gifts went into the Smile Hampers, every one handpicked with each child in mind and packed with love. Take a look at the film below to watch the magic of the process!
Hospital and hospice partner support
During December, and including Christmas day, we will have carried out 58 in-person visits to our NHS hospital and hospice partners, helping to spread some festive cheer. Plus we’ve supported many of their Christmas parties.
We’ve also sent out over 3,000 gifts, generously sponsored by Spring Finance, to all of our hospital and hospice partners to be distributed to seriously ill children and young people.
In total, DPD generously collected over 1000 boxes full of hampers and gifts (7 full van loads), delivering them around the country in time for Christmas.
Christmas Grotto
We once again returned to the North Pole with our Christmas Grotto, giving the children we support the chance to meet Santa online. Accompanied by the Spread a Smile team of talented elves and entertainers, we welcomed over 320 children and their siblings to the grotto, spreading smiles and festive cheer far and wide. The grotto is such an important and special initiative as it gives children who can’t get out to see Santa the chance to meet him from home or in hospital.
We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported us this Christmas, helping us to achieve all of the above, including;
- Everyone who donated in support of our Christmas Smile Hamper Appeal or sponsored a Smile Hamper;
- All those who bought a gift from our Christmas Gift List to go into our hampers or be sent out to our hospital and hospice partners;
- The incredible companies and organisations who donated larger quantities of gifts or helped fund our Christmas initiatives (Spring Finance, Hasbro, Spin Master, The Fence Club, Rainbow Designs, Melissa & Doug, OTL Technologies, Cheatwell Games, Aurora World, Plus-Plus, Crayola, Playmobil, Barry M, Derwent Art, Swizzles-Matlow, McVities, Lottie London, Hunter Price, Skinny Dip);
- Our amazing volunteers for giving up their time to help us pick and pack;
- Our friends at Uncommon for providing us with additional space to curate and store our deliveries;
- DPD for collecting and delivering all of our gifts for free!
We’d love to hear from you if you or your company would like to support us in 2024. Please email us at fundraising@spreadasmile.org to get involved. Thank you.