Susie

Laura Walter is Director of Services for Spread a Smile, leading the charity’s family support provision across the country. She has worked as a Senior Radiotherapy Play Specialist at University College London Hospital (UCLH), bringing extensive expertise in paediatric psychosocial care, childhood bereavement and family-centred support. With a Master’s degree in Child Life and Paediatric Psychosocial Care and many years of experience working alongside children undergoing cancer treatment, Laura shares more about the important role Spread a Smile plays within the NHS, bringing opportunities for play, joy and laughter for children with a cancer diagnosis.

Having worked as an NHS Play Specialist for 14 years and now as Director of Services at Spread a Smile, I have seen first-hand how important opportunities for play, creativity and connection are for children and young people living with cancer. At a time when so much of childhood can be overshadowed by treatment and hospital appointments, these moments become more important than ever.

Life changes overnight after a diagnosis. Everyday things such as going to school, seeing friends, taking part in clubs and activities, or simply enjoying family life can suddenly be replaced by treatment schedules, hospital appointments, difficult conversations, uncertainty and worry.

For a child or young person, it can be a frightening and isolating experience. It changes the shape of their childhood at a time when they should be focused on learning, playing, growing and discovering who they are.

Clinical care will always be the priority. Children and young people need access to the very best treatment and medical expertise available. But they also need support to cope emotionally with everything that comes alongside a cancer diagnosis.

That is why I was pleased to see that both the NHS National Cancer Plan and the wider NHS ambition for more personalised, holistic care recognise that children and young people have needs that extend beyond treatment alone. Emotional wellbeing, positive experiences and support for the whole child (and wider family) are not optional extras.

This is not a new idea for those of us working with children every day. We see first-hand the difference that moments of joy, play, creativity and connection can make.

We see children smile for the first time in days when a therapy dog walks into the room. We see young people reconnect with creativity through art, music and poetry. We see families making positive memories together during incredibly difficult circumstances. Most importantly, we see children and young people given opportunities to be themselves again, rather than being defined solely by their diagnosis or treatment.

Those moments do not change a diagnosis. But they can change a child’s experience of treatment. They can provide hope, restore confidence, create positive memories and help children remain connected to who they are beyond illness.

At Spread a Smile, we often talk about helping children to just be children. That might sound simple, but when a child is spending weeks or months in hospital, missing school, missing friends and navigating intensive treatment, opportunities to play, create, laugh and exercise choice become incredibly important.

Child-centred care means seeing the whole child, not just the cancer. It means recognising that alongside treatment, children still need moments of childhood, connection and joy. We believe those moments matter because they help children and families hold onto hope during some of the most challenging periods of their lives.

NHS Play Teams provide an invaluable service for children and young people receiving cancer treatment. Spread a Smile was never created to replace that support. Instead, we work alongside NHS teams to complement the exceptional care already in place.

Today Spread a Smile partners with 39 NHS hospitals and hospices across the country, including many specialist children’s cancer centres. As cancer remains one of the most common serious illnesses affecting the children referred to us, more than half of the children and young people we support are living with cancer.

Through entertainer visits, therapy dogs, art initiatives, virtual sessions and family events, we provide additional opportunities for play, creativity, connection and emotional support. We brighten healthcare environments through murals and artwork, personalise radiotherapy masks to make treatment feel less frightening, and create experiences that help children and families build positive memories.

Truly personalised and holistic care means recognising and responding to the emotional and practical needs of children and families alongside their clinical care. By working in partnership, healthcare services, charities and communities can bring together different expertise and support to help meet those needs. We are proud to work alongside NHS teams and play our part in that wider support.

Every child deserves opportunities to play, laugh, create, make choices and simply be themselves, regardless of what they are facing. For us, this is about more than supporting emotional wellbeing. It is about helping children remain connected to childhood, preserving hope and ensuring they are seen as children first and patients second. That is why this work matters, and why we remain committed to reaching more children and families in the years ahead.

To find out more about our work and how you can get involved, please email fundraising@spreadasmile.org

September saw long-term partners LMAC Group host their 5^th annual Golf Day at the Heron Country Club, Brentwood in support of Spread a Smile.

This ever popular event saw 104 golfers take to the course, with sprits high as guests enjoyed the live DJ who kept the tunes flowing alongside magic by Spread a Smile magician, Nick. Skye, one of our artists was also on hand creating caricature portraits for the golfers to take home, further showcasing the talents of Spread a Smile’s entertainers and triggering lots of laughs from everyone involved.

LMAC Group’s Group CEO/ Managing Director, Lee McDowell said, “Our LMAC Golf Day is always one of the highlights of the year — a brilliant day of golf, great company, and plenty of fun, all in support of a fantastic cause. We’re hugely grateful to everyone who takes part and helps make the day so special.”

Not only was the day a valued opportunity for the Spread a Smile team to meet new friends and faces, it also raised over an incredible £17,000 to help us spread smiles to seriously ill children, young people and their families across the country.

Corporate support and events like these play an important role ensuring that Spread a Smile’s hospital visits and entertainment services can continue to brighten some of the toughest days for the families we support.

A heartfelt thank you to Lee McDowell, Nadia and our friends from LMAC Group for everything they do to help ensure we can continue to provide our vital services when they are needed most.

Also, our thanks to the event sponsors: Scott Taylor Flooring, T&R Fire, Trendy Landscapes, Elite Fire Solutions, Howden, EDC Fire Protection and Principal Doors, plus everyone who joined on the day and took part in the raffle and auction and helped to make the day so successful.

To find out more about how your company can build a meaningful and impactful partnership with Spread a Smile, please reach out to our Head of Partnerships, Katy Scales at katy@spreadasmile.org

Spread a Smile is proud to have been chosen as charity partner for specialist financial services broker, WillU Group, with the company already making a huge impact for our work spreading smiles.

Earlier this month, WillU Group held their inaugural fundraising event in aid of Spread a Smile, with a brilliant day of Go Karting for 80 clients and friends at Buckmore Park in Kent.

WillU Group Co-Founder, Jack Lane-Matthews said, “After running 52 miles for Spread a Smile in the summer, I was very happy to let an engine do the work this time! Our first charity karting day brought together over 20 teams from across our network to raise money for a charity that’s very close to all of us at the WillU Group. I’ve been lucky enough to see first-hand the incredible work Spread a Smile does and the happiness it brings to seriously ill children and their families. We’re very proud to keep playing our part in supporting their work.”

Spread a Smile Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson was on hand to share more about the charity’s work, also welcoming one of the families we support, 9-year-old Josh and his Mum Kayleigh and Dad, Andrew.

This incredible event was a huge success full of so much laughter, raising £25,000 to support Spread a Smile’s work bringing joy and happiness to families like Joshua’s. Dad Andrew spoke first-hand about the difference Spread a Smile makes to families like theirs and it was wonderful to see both Josh and his Dad taking part in the go karting and sharing the fun of the day.

Lucy Jackson said, “The team at WillU Group have hit the ground running over the last few months, volunteering at our family events, fundraising and hosting an incredible Go Karting event in support of Spread a Smile.

“As a charity, we rely on the generosity of individual donors and companies such as WillU Group to help fund our services for seriously ill children and their families. We therefore can’t thank Co-Founders Jack Lane-Matthews and Craig Copeland enough for their invaluable support. Also, our thanks go to Michael Cash and the team at WillU Group, along with all the go karters who joined on the day, donating and taking part in the auction.”

To find out more about how your company can build a meaningful and impactful partnership with Spread a Smile, please reach out to our Head of Partnerships, Katy Scales at katy@spreadasmile.org

This Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, we’re sharing more about how Spread a Smile supports the needs of children with cancer beyond clinical care.

One initiative which is doing just that is our therapy dog work supporting physiotherapy sessions for young oncology patients receiving treatment at the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH), Proton Beam Therapy (PBT) department.

Physiotherapy plays an important part in the treatment of cancer, helping to manage pain and the physical side effects that come with a diagnosis, including mobility issues and physical weakness.

Medical procedures and treatment plans can be extremely scary for a child or young person, but by introducing therapy dogs, the aim is to help them to relax and find a fun way to engage with physiotherapy goals. Therapy dog Harry, along with owner Tara visit the PBT department at UCLH every other week, supporting the physiotherapy team and oncology patients with physiotherapy goals and activities.

Izzy MacCallum, Team Lead Physiotherapist, Proton Beam Therapy said, “The therapy dogs have been a wonderful addition to our physiotherapy and occupational therapy sessions. The therapy dogs enable us to work with children on their fine motor skills when reaching for treats, their coordination when brushing and stroking the dogs, their balance and confidence mobilising when walking them and their strength when playing fetch and kicking the ball to the dogs. It brings joy not just to the children, but also to their parents and the staff!”

Jennah’s Mum, Rubeka, shared how physio sessions joined by one of our therapy dogs helped her daughter after brain surgery to remove a Medulloblastoma left Jennah with balance and mobility issues in her left arm and leg:

“Over time, with physio, Jennah started to walk with a walker. During therapy dog visits, Jennah was encouraged to use her restricted arm to brush the dog, Buddy’s, fur, and it was so motivating, but in a fun and casual way. Then one day whilst Jennah was playing with Buddy, she just started to run after Buddy, leaving her walker behind and walking independently. It was an incredible moment which I will never forget.”

Spread a Smile’s mission is to be there for as many children and young people like Jennah as possible. Laura Walter, Spread a Smile Director of Services said, “Rehabilitation is an essential part of the treatment pathway for a child or young person diagnosed with cancer and the process can be challenging, particularly for young children. It’s wonderful that the our therapy dogs and their owners are able to support the physiotherapy and occupational therapy sessions for children receiving Proton Beam therapy in a fun and enjoyable way that can make a real positive difference.”

With the 2026 NHS National Cancer Plan for England acknowledging for the first time that children and young people living with cancer have unique needs that extend beyond just clinical care, our work across our 39 NHS partners is even more important than ever.

Spread a Smile is committed to supporting seriously ill children and their families across the country with positivity, fun and laughter, during some of the most difficult times of their life.

Please consider making a donation to ensure we can continue our vital work when it’s needed most.

To stay up to date with all things Spread a Smile and how you can get involved, please sign up to our e-newsletter here.

Our mission is to bring joy and laughter to as many seriously ill children as possible.

We meet the majority of the families we support through our work in 39 NHS hospital partners, often becoming a source of ongoing support for them during their time in hospital. Of these 39 hospitals, 14 are specialist NHS children’s hospitals providing cancer care around the country. As a result of this widespread support, 54% of the children and young people we support are living with cancer. This is perhaps unsurprising, given that cancer is the most common serious illness affecting children in the UK.

We also support children receiving cancer treatment at both of the UK’s NHS Proton Beam Therapy Centres – The Christie in Manchester and University College London Hospital (UCLH), helping to bring moments of joy and distraction during what can be an incredibly difficult time for children and their families.

High energy proton beam therapy is a specialised form of radiotherapy used to treat a wide range of cancers, targeting tumours precisely and minimising damage to surrounding healthy tissues. The process often involves weeks of treatment and our services, both in person and virtual, provide children and young people receiving the treatment with the chance to smile, have fun, connect and simply be a child again.

This could be through our in-person visits, whereby our entertainers, from musicians to magicians, therapy dogs, artists and poets, use their talents to help distract and engage with children receiving treatment in hospital. Or through our range of family events which include afternoon teas and trips to the theatre or cinema and welcome seriously ill children along with their whole family to enjoy a special, free day out together (where they are all thoroughly spoilt!)

Spread a Smile is also the main provider of bespoke, hand-painted radiotherapy masks across our NHS hospital partners. As part of our art programme, we support hundreds of children and teenagers going through radiotherapy every year for head, brain or neck cancers by personalising their radiotherapy masks.

The masks (or moulds) are necessary so the treatment can be delivered as precisely as possible, requiring the child to be strapped to the table or to undergo general anaesthetic. It can be an incredibly frightening experience.

Our team of artists, led by our Head of Art, Marina, work closely with young patients to find out their interests and how they would like their masks decorated. Sometimes a patient draws their own sketch and then Marina will take the ideas and create a bespoke and individual decoration for the mask.

The process helps to make the mask less frightening, and experience shows that the patient often becomes very proud of their mask, as Freddie’s Mum Charmaine told us, “As a Mum it was traumatic watching Freddie have the mask put on as it is so big, and they have to clip it into place around the bed. But seeing it looking so special and personalised made things a little easier. 

“He didn’t mind wearing his mask once it was painted and enjoyed talking with other children about what they had on their masks. He was so proud to show it to people. We now have it home and it is a prized possession on his desk which he proudly shows to everyone who comes in. His mask was his protection, and he was proud of what he had been through.”

With the 2026 NHS National Cancer Plan for England acknowledging for the first time that children and young people living with cancer have unique needs that extend beyond just clinical care, our work is even more important than ever.

Alongside treatment and recovery, the Plan highlights the importance of emotional wellbeing, positive hospital experiences and holistic support for children and families. And that’s where Spread a Smile comes in. We are committed to being there for seriously ill children across the country with smiles, fun and laughter, during some of the most difficult times of their life.

To stay up to date with our work and how you can get involved, please sign up to our e-newsletter here.

Or why not make a donation to ensure we can continue to bring joy and laughter to seriously ill children when it’s needed most.