Art is important in every child’s development, encouraging children to express their creativity, develop motor skills and heighten their ability to communicate and problem solve. Spread a Smile offers a range of art initiatives to support seriously ill children and their families, brightening hospital settings and providing vital distraction from treatment.
- Personalisation of radiotherapy masks for children and teenagers going through treatment for brain, head and neck cancer at UCLH, The Royal Marsden and The Christie Hospital in Manchester. Painting the masks makes them less frightening and helps children manage their treatment better. In 2024/25, we hand-painted 160 bespoke radiotherapy masks.
- Enriching hospital spaces by decorating wards, treatment rooms, playrooms and communal spaces with uplifting murals and artworks. Our creative art initiatives improve the look and feel of what can be a very unsettling place, benefitting patients, families and staff.
- Bespoke hospital window art to mark special occasions and calendar dates (eg Christmas, Eid, Diwali, etc). Plus bespoke artworks painted for individual children to decorate their hospital space.
- Art & craft workshops for children to enjoy in their beds or in communal play areas. During the hospital lockdown in 2020, we delivered more than 1,000 art & craft packs and a range of virtual sessions for seriously ill children to enjoy. Since then, demand for our virtual services has continued.
- Portraits and memory books special art initiatives to support families of children who have passed away.
