Spread a Smile brings joy and laughter to seriously ill children in NHS hospitals and hospices across the country.
Through in-person and virtual visits and events, our entertainers – from magicians to musicians, artists, fairies and therapy dogs – enhance wellbeing and help young patients cope with the pain and anxiety of serious illness and hospitalisation.
Alongside our visit programme, our resident artists help to make the hospital environment more child-friendly and we also deliver a programme of family-focused events, enabling families to spend precious time together outside of hospital.
Since our founding in 2013, we have built a reputation for developing bespoke relationships with each family and each health setting, so that we can offer the most meaningful, impactful support.
In 2024-25, we will deliver over 13,200 in-person bedside visits and over 2,640 virtual visits, in partnership with 34 NHS hospitals and six hospice partners. We plan to increase the number of partners to 45 this year.
Our core services include:
Entertainer visits – scheduled face-to-face and virtual hospital visits to children under the care of our hospital partners from our team of professional entertainers including play specialists, artists, magicians, musicians, poets and therapy dogs.
Outings and Events – an extended programme of family-focused theatre trips and physical and virtual family, sibling and teenage events plus regular treat drops across our hospital partners.
Art Initiatives – Enriching Spaces creates colourful murals on hospital wards and windows to make the hospital environment a more welcoming place for young patients and their families. Our hand-painted, bespoke masks and moulds support young patients undergoing radiotherapy treatment.
NHS London
- Barnet Hospital*
- Chelsea and Westminster Hospital*
- Croydon University Hospital*
- Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH)*
- Epsom Hospital*
- The Evelina Children’s Hospital*
- King’s College Hospital*
- Kingston Hospital*
- Newham Hospital*
- North Middlesex University Hospital*
- Northwick Park Hospital*
- Princess Alexandra Hospital*
- Queen Mary’s Hospital for Children*
- The Royal Brompton Hospital*
- The Royal London Hospital*
- The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital*
- St George’s Hospital*
- St Mary’s Hospital*
- The Royal Marsden Hospital*
- University College Hospital (UCLH)*
- Watford General Hospital*
- West Middlesex University Hospital*
- Whipps Cross Hospital*
- The Whittington Hospital*
NHS South East
- East Surrey Hospital*
- Oxford Children’s Hospital (John Radcliffe Hospital site)
- Southampton Children’s Hospital
- William Harvey Hospital, Ashford*
NHS Midlands
- Leicester Children’s Hospital
- Nottingham Children’s Hospital
NHS South West
- Bristol Royal Hospital for Children
NHS East of England
- Addenbrookes Children’s Hospital, Cambridge
NHS North West
- Christie Hospital, Manchester
NHS Wales
- Wrexham Maelor Hospital
Hospices
- Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice*
- Demelza Hospice Care for Children*
- Forever Colours
- Helen & Douglas House
- Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice
- Rennie Grove Peace Hospice
* Indicates regular in person hospital/hospice visits