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Susie

Ari and George’s films win prestigious award

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We’re winners! Last night Spread a Smile and film maker Jules’ Creative Content won the award ‘Film: Best Use of a Smaller Budget category’ at the 2024 EVCOM London Film Awards.

The prestigious annual awards are run by EVCOM (Event and Visual Communication Association) and recognise excellence in both craft and communications, celebrating the best creative work in film.

Spread a Smile’s win is for two incredible films – George’s Story and Ari’s Story – created for us by Jules Sander. They follow the stories of George and his family and Ari and her family, from diagnosis through to treatment and meeting Spread a Smile.

Spread a Smile’s Co-Founders Josephine Segal and Vanessa Crocker, along with Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson attended the awards at a glittering ceremony at Plaisterers’ Hall, London on Thursday 28 November with Lucy saying, “Being able to share, via film, the difference our work makes to the children and families we support means a huge amount to us, and we can’t thank the Anstey and Radcliffe families enough for allowing us to tell their stories. A huge thank you to Jules (Jules’ Creative Content) for bringing such creativity, understanding and passion to the table when producing the films. Thank you to EVCOM for shortlisting us and thereby helping to raise awareness about Spread a Smile and our work bringing a little bit of joy and happiness when it’s most needed. It really is an honour to see our wonderful films recognised in this way and we are proud to be the recipient of this prestigious award.”

Please take a moment to watch George’s Story (below) and Ari’s Story on our YouTube channel. Please share far and wide and if you are able to make a donation to help ensure we can continue to be there for families like these during the darkest of days, we would be extremely grateful, thank you.

New hospital partner – St Peter’s Hospital

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Spread a Smile announces its latest hospital partner, St Peter’s Hospital, a district general hospital in Chertsey, Surrey and part of Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (ASPH). Originally built to serve casualties of the Second World War, today the hospital cares for people across the surrounding area including Woking, Weybridge, Chertsey, Staines and Walton on Thames. Spread a Smile will be supporting children and young people receiving treatment at the hospital and they, along with their families, are invited to join the Spread a Smile family and benefit from its services.

Spread a Smile’s mission is to bring joy and laughter to as many seriously ill children as possible in NHS hospitals, clinical settings, hospices and homes across the UK. St Peter’s Hospital joins 34 other major and speciality NHS hospitals, and six hospice partners already supported by Spread a Smile, taking the charity one step closer to its aim of spreading smiles to every seriously ill child and young person across the country.

The Spread a Smile team of talented entertainers, including musicians, artists, magicians and therapy dogs, will spend quality time with patients in hospital through regular in-person visits to the hospital. Every month the team will visit children across paediatric inpatient wards including the Children’s Paediatric Oncology Shared Care Units (POSCUs), sharing their talents and bringing moments of fun and distractions when they are needed most.

In addition, patients and their families will be able to access weekly virtual group activity sessions, including art clubs, magic, storytelling. Plus, they will be able to join in with special seasonally themed virtual activity days during school holidays and benefit from regular treat drops to the hospital. All of which supports Spread a Smile’s aim of reaching and supporting as many young people as possible, spreading smiles and a lot of happiness to children undergoing treatment for serious illnesses and their families.

Izabela Wakula, Play Specialist at St Peter’s Hospital, said: “So far, we have had two visits from Spread a Smile, and what visits they have been! Fairy Betty makes sure there is something exciting for every patient – maybe their favourite songs to sing and join in with, some tricks and tasks or mesmerising bubbles. Then there’s the magician who makes us all go ‘Wow!’ with his tricks. Musician Rosie can play any song suggested, from nursery rhymes the latest radio hits. Some of our patients could not wait for their turn and were calling out from afar that they wanted to be seen next. 

“There have been lots of giggles, smiles, laughter and singing. Grown-ups have joined in too, with parents singing and staff humming. But most of all, children of all ages have had time and space to have fun and be children again, even though they might have been poorly and in hospital that day. Thank you, Spread a Smile team for bringing a little magic to our hospital.” 

Lucy Jackson, Spread a Smile Chief Executive added, “Spread a Smile is proud to be working in partnership with ASPH to support the brilliant team at St Peter’s Hospital. Together we’ll be spreading smiles to seriously ill children and young people receiving treatment at the hospital, providing distraction and much needed moments of engagement and fun. We are looking forward to our visits and what lies ahead.”

Help spread joy and love this festive season

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This festive season we want to spread even more smiles than ever before through our festive Smile Hampers and to do that we need your help.

We’ve set ourselves the huge task of sending out 1,750 Smile Hampers, packed full of gifts, hand-picked with each child in mind, and to be delivered to seriously ill children and their siblings in time for Christmas.

Just £38 will help fund two Smile Hampers, bringing so much joy during what can be an extremely difficult time for the families we support

“Christmas wouldn’t happen without you guys. Thank you so much for everything you do for us.”
Parent

When a child is seriously ill, day-to-day life is often taken over by sickness, treatment plans and hospital stays, spending time away from family and friends. The magic and wonder of the festive season can easily be lost.

Please give what you can to help fund our Smile Hampers so we can spread as much joy and happiness to the families we support during the most difficult time of their lives.

Thank you so much for your support.

Kisharon Langdon support for Mitzvah Day

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Mitzvah Day is a day of faith-based social action in November, when communities and individuals undertake a range of volunteering projects to help others.

This year, Kisharon Langdon, a charity which supports people within the Jewish learning disability and autism community, came together to help Spread a Smile bring a little joy and happiness to seriously ill children and young people.

On 24 November, their youth group which supports young people with learning disabilities, met with adults also supported by the charity at their centre in Edgware, to wrap and pack donated gifts to be included in our Smile Hampers.

The group learnt about the importance of inclusion and reaching out to others and met Spread a Smile Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson and Co-Founder, Josephine Segal who spoke about the work we do and the difference the group are helping to make to the families we support.

Lucy said, “Mitzvah Day is a very special day in the Jewish calendar and one which sees people spending time together to do something good for others. We were delighted to receive support from Kisharon Langdon and so grateful for all their efforts to help us spread smiles to children spending time in hospital, managing treatment plans and illness. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”

To find out more about supporting Spread a Smile, please email fundraising@spreadasmile.org

 

2nd Padel Tournament for Spread a Smile

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On Thursday 21 November, we were joined by 12 brilliant teams for our 2nd Padel Tournament of 2024, generously sponsored by our friends at Engage FS. And what an amazing day it was!

It was brilliant to be back at Stratford Padel Club and once again competition levels were high, with teams from Sidekick Management taking first and second place and HCFX coming in third.

Take a look at our photo gallery from the day.

Padel is a mix between tennis and squash and usually played in doubles on an enclosed court one third the size of a tennis court. The sport is known for combining action with fun and social interaction, it’s easy to pick up and suitable for players of all ages and skills to join in together.

We are so grateful to all of our teams (with a special shout out to BC Partners), for joining us and helping to raise vital funds to support seriously ill children, young people and their families. Also, to Stratford Padel Club, for making us so welcome and helping to ensure the day run smoothly.

Please get in touch to find out about joining us for next year’s event, or why not check out some of our other events here.

Parent Pamper Days in hospital

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Having a seriously ill child in hospital is extremely stressful for any parent or carer. Lives are turned upside down, family members may be separated for long periods, and there is often no time for self-care and well-being.

Spread a Smile supports the whole family, organising special Parent Pamper Days in hospitals to give parents and carers a chance to indulge in moments of calm and personal care.

Our team provides hairdressing, massage, nail care and aromatherapy, enabling rare moments for respite and self-care. Precious one of our volunteer hairdressers told us, “I’ve been a hairdresser for 30 years and it seemed like such an amazing but obvious thing for me to volunteer to support Spread a Smile. Everyone was so welcoming and really made me feel comfortable and at ease. I felt honoured to meet every parent and to be able to help make them smile and feel a little bit of normality.”

The Pamper Days provide a chance for parents and carers to spend a little bit of time relaxing, away from the hospital bed. As one parent said, “In amongst everything we have to do in hospital, it’s so lovely to just sit, relax, close my eyes and let everything wash over me.”

Priya is another member of our team who regularly goes into the hospitals we support. In her role as a volunteer complementary therapist UCLH between 2018 – 2020, Priya created bespoke aromatherapy inhalers for patients undergoing radiotherapy treatment. She now works with Spread a Smile, providing complimentary therapy sessions for parents and carers of seriously ill children in hospital. These were initially delivered online during the highly stressful Covid period and now include in-person support through aromatherapy and massage for patients, alongside our regular Pamper Days for parents and carers.

Thanks to a collaboration with our friends at AromaStick, Priya has developed a new way of incorporating aromatherapy natural inhalers into her bespoke wellbeing sessions – something that was helped greatly thanks to a generous donation by AromaSticks of 200 sticks.

As Laura Walter, Spread a Smile Director of Services said: “When caring for a sick child, parents rarely get any time out for themselves. We’re proud to support our families whilst they are caring for their children in hospital, helping to relieve a little bit of the stress around the day-to-day, even if it’s just for a short time.”

Thank you to all of our team for making the Parent Pamper days possible and giving parents to seriously ill children the chance to take a moment of respite.

Variety Show with our talented entertainers

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Last night saw us hold our first ever Variety Show at The Bedford in Balham, showcasing the incredible talents of some of our entertainers.

Guests were treated to incredible performances from vintage vocal quartet The Wild Tonics, magicians Edwin Todd and Lee Bell, ventriloquist Chris Garside, singing sensations Collette Spinner and Jack Reitman, bubbleologist Dov Citron, spontaneous poet Judge the Poet, balloon modeller Louise, musical trio Betty, Rosie and Joanna and illusionist Nicholas Lee

It really was a night to remember, filled with so much happiness, celebrating our incredible entertainers and the work of Spread a Smile.

Spread a Smile Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson said, “An incredible evening at our Variety Show last night and an honour to witness first-hand how our talented entertainers spread so much joy and happiness. Spread a Smile is a family and this event really brought that home, with supporters and our team coming together for an uplifting night of music, singing and fun.”

A special thank you to entertainers Sar and Chris for being the driving force behind the show and bringing so much energy and passion. Plus to our hosts Mr Magic and Aaron for guiding us through so expertly and The Bedford in Balham for making us all feel so welcome.

Find out more about our upcoming events here.

Christmas at Spread a Smile is GO!

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This week saw our first volunteers join us in the office to start packing our festive Smile Hampers to be sent out to 1,750 seriously ill children and their siblings in time for Christmas.

Britain’s Got Talent winner and Spread a Smile entertainer and Ambassador, Richard Jones plus one of our Young Ambassadors, Varun Shradhanand Mahatme were on hand on Monday morning to prepare gifts and help fill boxes alongside volunteers from our friends at McVities.

“It was such a fun day helping to pack Smile Hampers with fellow Ambassador Varun and some of the brilliant volunteers that give up their time every year to help make this initiative happen. As an Ambassador and a magician who regularly goes into hospital with the Spread a Smile team to help bring a little joy to seriously ill children, I’ve seen first-hand the difference the charity makes during some of the most difficult times of a child’s life. To know that the Smile Hampers will be going out in time for Christmas, spreading that little bit of extra happiness and wonder really is something special and I was delighted to be part of it.” Richard Jones

Each Smile Hamper is full of gifts hand-picked with each child in mind and designed to bring a little bit of festive cheer. We were delighted to welcome ITV London who joined us to film and help spread the word about Spread a Smile’s Smile Hamper initiative, interviewing Richard, Varun and Spread a Smile Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson. (Watch the film below). The feature was made possible thanks to Jamie Nagioff and Joseph Eskenazy from creative PR agency Ready10, who gave up their time pro bono to work with the Spread a Smile team to develop the media pitch and encourage support from the media.

We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported so far, including Richard, Varun, Jamie and Joseph, all of our brilliant volunteers and the companies and individuals who have generously donated money and gifts towards the hampers. Plus, to Helen Keenan and the team from ITV London for visiting, filming and helping to raise vital awareness about our work.

If you’d like to support our Smile Hamper initiative, you can buy gifts from our Amazon Gift List here. Or please donate £19 to help fund a bespoke Smile Hamper for  a seriously ill child or their sibling. Thank you.

5th Comedy Night success

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On Monday 4 November we returned to The Comedy Store, London for the Spread a Smile 5th stand-up Comedy Night to help raise vital funds for seriously ill children and their families.

Generously sponsored by Canary Wharf Contractors and Texel Foundation and hosted and curated by Spread a Smile Ambassador Suzi Ruffell, the event was a huge success with much laughter in the room.

Guests were treated to brilliant performances from Chantel Nash, Jack Skipper, Ania Magliano, Tom Allen and also Nish Kumar who kindly stepped in for Angela Barnes. The Military Mindreader Richard Jones, another Spread a Smile Ambassador, also joined us to showcase his talents with a special guest appearance.

So far over £100,000 has been raised through our Comedy Nights and we can’t thank Suzi, our sponsors, The Comedy Store, our performers and everyone who joined us enough for their support.

Take a look at our gallery here and don’t forget to sign up to our newsletter to be the first to hear about our 2025 Comedy Nights or click here to find out more about some of our other events.

Four family events in five days

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The Spread a Smile team went the extra mile during half-term to support seriously ill children through a variety of brilliant family focussed events, welcoming an incredible 240 children and family member across the week.

The week kicked off on Monday with a special trip to London Zoo with 20 patients and their families – generously sponsored for the second year running by our friends from Downing LLP. Our families got to see lots of amazing animals as they explored the zoo, including three baby lion cubs and some very cute baby gorillas. We had a room hired for the day where our families could return for arts and crafts including animal mask masking and clay modelling as well as entertainment such as facepainting, magic and singing fairies. Lunch was a delicious mix of pizza, sliders and chips plus lots of yummy snacks. Huge thanks to the team at London Zoo for their amazing service and our friends at Downing LLP.

“I just wanted to say thank you for our wonderful day at London Zoo, with a special thank you to the magician and fairies who kept making sure Soph was OK. Soph has had a tough year and I can’t thank you guys enough for making her feel so special.” Angela, Mum to Sophie, aged 9

On the Tuesday, we spent the afternoon at Everyman Cinema in King’s Cross, with 18 patients along with their siblings and family members. Our families were treated to lots of snacks including popcorn and sweet treats whilst being entertained by our fantastic Spread a Smile fairies, magicians and singers. With full bellies, we settled down to watch the adorable film Inside Out 2. And to finish the day, our families left with a brilliant goody bag. As always, a huge thanks to the team at Everyman Kings Cross for being so accommodating and welcoming our families with huge smiles and kindness.

“Thank you for such a lovely trip to the cinema and for accommodating Eva’s friend. Eva had a wonderful time, heart and belly full on leaving” Claire, Mum to Eva, aged 10. 

For Hallowe’en, we took a trip to the beautiful Brunswick Art Gallery in Holborn, with 15 families joining us for a creative workshop with a professional artist whilst being serenaded by a live singer and DJ. The party was in full swing as our guests enjoyed a delicious lunch, cupcakes and sweet treats. They were also able to paint their own pumpkins, have their face painted, enjoy some magic tricks, take part in a Hallowe’en scavenger hunt and design their own tote bag – perfect to carry home all their goodies! A huge thank you to Nicholas Lazari and John Themis from Lazari Investments for helping to make this wonderful event possible.

To round off the week, we spent a wonderful ‘Creative Hospital Play Day’ at LEGO London Hub in London. We were joined by 13 patients and their families, alongside Jenny and Catherine – Health Play Specialists from our NHS hospital partners for loads of fun LEGO building activities including the 6 brick challenge and building a LEGO hospital.

Jenny and Catherine ran a wonderful Teddy Bears Clinic during which families could explore lots of creative hospital play with their teddies. There was also syringe painting and a chance to make x-ray pictures using cotton buds and white paint. Families also enjoyed some delicious snacks, plus magic from one of our amazing Spread a Smile entertainers!

“Thank you very much for organising another fun day at Lego HQ. Toomas had an amazing time (thank you very much for the bunnies!) and really enjoyed all the activities. My son was very impressed with Nick, the magician, and has been practising magic tricks all weekend.” Mum, Johanna

A huge shout out to Ellie and Gary from our Family Events team for organising such a range of brilliant events and activities for the families we support. Events such as these might be the only chance for our families to spend time together away from the stress and worry of hospital stays and treatment plans and we are proud to have spread so many times during the half-term period.

To find out more about our Family Events, how you can support them or sign up to join one, please click here.