On Saturday 18 January we kicked off 2025 in style with an amazing Winter Party at St Mary’s Marylebone London.
It was an incredible day which saw us welcome nearly 500 of the children and young people we support including their families.
Held over two floors, this very special family event was packed full of different stalls and activities for our VIP guests to enjoy, run by the Spread a Smile team and over 70 brilliant volunteers. There was something for everyone including gingerbread biscuit decorating, nail art, face painting, glitter tattoos, friendship bracelet making, arts and crafts, LEGO, plant pot decorating and more.
“We had the BEST time at the Winter Party – thank you so much Spread a Smile! Jacob and Kaitlin had so much fun and the staff and all the volunteers were so nice. Marina as always did the most amazing face painting and Jacob couldn’t wait to see Tasha and Nick again. We had a fantastic day and met some new lovely families there and the children loved the goodies they came home with. They were spoilt with things to make and do. Thank you all so much.” Lucy, Mum to Jacob and Kaitlin
We were joined by All About Anna’s Animals who brought along some gorgeous animals to hold and learn more about including a snake, tortoise and tarantula. Guests also enjoyed fun on our bumper cars, making flower crowns with our friends from Freddie’s Flowers, slime with Slime Planet, a Formula 1 driving experience from 4-Events, a Silent Disco thanks to the Silent Disco Company and a cool 360 video booth from Choclato.
Our brilliant team of Spread a Smile entertainers joined us to fill the day with music, singing, dancing, bubbles, magic, poetry and much 
more. Guests also enjoyed the world premiere of the first ever Spread a Smile pantomime. (Oh yes they did!) Elsa from Frozen welcomed children to the stage for a dance and a sing-a-long and our Therapy Dogs Thomas and Smartie loved meeting guests.
To keep everyone going, we put on food and treats galore, including Sushi rolls from SushiDog, delicious pizzas from Wandering Pizza Company, sweet treats from Funshine Candy Floss and yummy cupcakes and treats from our friends at Lola’s Cupcake and Mildreds. We also made sure parents and carers were given a special self-care moment with hand massages, aromatherapy plus hairdressing by Elle and Karen Clancy.
We are extremely proud to deliver days such as this for the families we support and it was lovely to see so many of them relaxing and meeting the team and other families. We were also delighted to welcome some of our Trustees to share in the magic of this very special day.
Thank you to our friends from Constellia and Children with Cancer UK for generously supported this event. Also, to our wonderful
volunteers for giving up their time to make the day possible and those who donated supplies, food and drink. Shout out to C. Hoare & Co, Hain Daniels, Hasbro, Lola’s Cupcakes, LMAC Group, Mildreds, Peel Hunt, Redstor, Sidekick Management, the LEGO Group and XTX Markets.
Thank you to all of our friends, families and colleagues for joining us and making our Winter Party 2025 one to remember. Watch this space for details of our Summer Party.
To help ensure we can continue to spread smiles to seriously ill children and young people, please donate here. Thank you.
If you would like to find out about attending our family events in the future, please register for our services and sign up to receive our Family Newsletter here.
