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Susie

New hospice partner – Helen & Douglas House

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Spread a Smile today announces its newest partner, Helen & Douglas House, a children’s hospice based in Oxford. Local terminally ill children and their families having supportive stays at the hospice and end-of-life care will be able to enjoy Spread a Smile’s services, including visits from entertainers and artists, virtual visits and treat drops.

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. Helen & Douglas House joins 27 major and speciality NHS hospitals and two other hospice partners already supported by Spread a Smile, taking the charity one step closer to its aim of spreading smiles across the whole of the UK.

The Spread a Smile team of talented entertainers, including musicians, artists and therapy dogs, will support events for the children and their families at the hospice. Families will also be able to access virtual online events and activity sessions, including art clubs, balloon modelling, music lessons and more, all with the aim of spreading smiles and a lot of happiness to children with life-shortening conditions and their families.

Chloe Pike, Play Team Member at Helen & Douglas House said of the partnership “We are so delighted to be working with Spread a Smile. They are an amazing charity which brings so many smiles to so many children around the country. Our families have already enjoyed Spread a Smile’s activities at our children’s summer party on 8th August including a singer, magician and face painter. They also sent us kits to make Coronation Cupcakes which the children loved. We are so grateful for their support and help making magical memories for the families who come to Helen & Douglas House.”

Alongside Spread a Smile’s hospice visits and virtual sessions, children and their families at Helen & Douglas House will be able to join special themed activity days celebrating seasonal occasions such as Easter and Christmas, plus family outings and events, giving them the opportunity to join in with fun and exciting experiences that they may otherwise not have access to.

Jackie Freeman, Mum to Jasmine who joined the Helen & Douglas Summer Party said, “The Spread a Smile team have been amazing with Jasmine. They have literally spread a massive smile on Jasmine’s face through their singing, magic and facepainting today at the Helen & Douglas House children’s party.  It is lovely seeing Jasmine enjoy herself and see her smile which she hasn’t done in a long time.”

Lucy Jackson, Spread a Smile’s Chief Executive added, “Spread a Smile is delighted to be working with Helen & Douglas House to bring a little joy to the lives of terminally ill children and their families, helping to create special memories during the most difficult of times.

“Our mission is to reach and support as many seriously ill children and young people as possible across the UK. Welcoming Helen & Douglas House to our partner family means we can do just that, and we are proud to support their amazing team in their work helping local families cope with the challenges of looking after a terminally ill baby or child.” 

Please donate to help us continue our vital work with partners such as Helen & Douglas House and the families we support. Thank you.

Camp Beaumont

Camp Beaumont Big Blue Bash

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We are extremely grateful to once again have the support from our friends at Camp Beaumont this Summer through their Big Blue Bash.

Camp BeaumontCamp Beaumont run multi-activity day camps across the UK and their Big Blue Bash on Friday 4 August is an opportunity to make a splash and invite children and their parents to donate to wear something blue and join in with lots of competitions and games on the day.

“It is an absolute honour to work with Spread a Smile each year and we always look forward to our Spread a Smile summer events when they come around! This year’s Big Blue Bash is set to be a great one! We love working with the team to continue spreading smiles whilst raising money for a cause so close to our hearts. This year, we’re inviting our local parents to join in with the fun at their local Camp Beaumont venue and we’re also running an online raffle offering some amazing prizes!” Camp Beaumont

Camp Beamont’s online raffle is now up and running, with some great prizes to be won, including a year’s supply of Camp Beaumont childcare and an animal adoption voucher with ZooLab. The raffle closes this Friday 28 July and tickets are available for just £5 each here, with all proceeds being donated to Spread a Smile.

“We are extremely grateful to our friends at Camp Beaumont for their ongoing support. They are helping us reach new audiences, raise vital funds and spread even more smiles to seriously ill children and young people in hospital. A huge thank you to all of the team, camp attendees, raffle ticket buyers and donors for getting behind the Big Blue Bash and making a difference to our families.”  Lucy Jackson, Spread a Smile Chief Executive

Spread a Smile doesn’t receive any government funding and relies on the support and generosity of individuals and organisations such as Camp Beaumont to continue to spread smiles across the UK.

Please get in touch with us at fundraising@spreadasmile.org if you’d like to get involved and help make a difference when it’s needed most. Thank you.

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Abseiler extraordinaire

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We are extremely proud of each and every one of our fundraisers for going the extra mile to help raise vital funds for Spread a Smile’s work across the UK.

We’d like you to meet Daniel who recently joined Team Smile and fundraised to support seriously ill children and young people through our brilliant abseiling challenge.

“Hi, my name is Daniel and I am 14 years old. I recently took part in an abseil down the ArcelorMittal Orbit for the fabulous charity, Spread a Smile.

“I really enjoy doing things that other people find scary, so as soon as I heard about this opportunity I instantly knew that I wanted to get involved! I was super excited in the run up to the abseil and couldn’t wait for the day to arrive.

“The day itself was brilliant fun and I really enjoyed hanging out with the other people who were taking part – there were even a couple of people my age. My family came to cheer me on and I was really chuffed to have raised nearly £650 + gift aid!

“I didn’t find it too scary – the only bit which made me a bit apprehensive was when I had to step over the safety barrier and start walking down the building, as I was horizontal at this point.  But my mum said she was really scared watching me!  It was really cool having brilliant views of London while I came down. 

“I feel really proud of myself for having done something like this and for having raised so much money for such a brilliant charity, which is helping sick children – it feels really good.”

We can’t thank Daniel enough for his support and were so proud that his story was recently published in The Week Junior (22 July edition p29 – out for sale now). Well done Daniel!

If Daniel has inspired you, then why not get in touch by emailing fundraising@spreadasmile.org to find out more about fundraising for Spread a Smile. We’d love to hear from you.

Alice Chennell Volunteer

Volunteer spotlight

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Spread a Smile is lucky enough to have some amazing volunteers who support us at our events and other key times of the year, including Christmas and Easter. Without them we simply would not be able to spread as many smiles as we do to seriously ill children and young people.

We chatted to one such volunteer, Alice Chennell about how she started volunteering for Spread a Smile and the impact it has made for her.

“I found out about Spread a Smile when the company I work for, Spring Finance, became a corporate partner of the charity. The Spread a Smile team visited our office to present at one of our company meetings, showcasing their work and how we could get involved. It seemed such an inspiring cause to support.

“In July I took the opportunity to volunteer for Spread a Smile’s annual Summer Party. It’s a huge event which sees over 400 children and families supported by the charity come together for a really special day out. There were all sorts of stalls and fun to be had and I helped set up and run the glitter tattoo station.

“The day went so quickly. It was breathtaking when you looked around at all the activities that were organised for the children. Being able to let the children forget about anything they have going on and just focus on a bit of fun was very rewarding for both myself and I think the respective adults that attended alongside them. I really enjoyed seeing their faces light up as they picked their favourite tattoo designs and watched them appear when the stencil was lifted. For days after I was finding glitter everywhere and it didn’t fail to make me smile.

“For me, the volunteering meant for a few moments I was able to give the children the option to make decisions for themselves. Let them pick out their design and colours and watch them walk away proud of their glitter tattoos. I think it was also lovely to see the adults watching the children enjoy themselves which wouldn’t be possible without Spread a Smile putting on such an awesome event and allowing me to be a part of it.”

Thank you to Alice and all of our wonderful volunteers for making our work spreading smiles possible.

Please email admin@spreadasmile.org if you or your company are interested in volunteering opportunities or partnering with Spread a Smile. Thank you.

Hamilton Court FX

5-a-side football fundraiser

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Last week saw our 3rd annual 5-aside football tournament take place in aid of Spread a Smile, this year generously sponsored by Downing LLP.

11 teams joined us at Shoreditch Powerleague for a brilliant day of football, fun and healthy competition, with Hamilton Court FX emerging victorious as winners of the Cup and Corinthia London as runners up. Congratulations also to McVitie’s who were crowned Plate winners and Opticore IT as Plate runners up.

Despite the rain, friends old and new turned out in force to join the football fun and support Spread a Smile, together raising an amazing £7,000 for our work supporting seriously ill children and young people in hospital.

“The Downing team thoroughly enjoyed participating in Spread a Smile’s charity football tournament last Friday. We were thrilled to contribute to such a fantastic cause, helping to raise £7,000.

We understand the significance of this funding in enabling the charity to sustain its invaluable support for seriously ill children and young people in hospitals.

We extend our gratitude to the Spread a Smile team for their efforts in organising this event and look forward to supporting their ongoing efforts.” Downing LLP

In true Spread a Smile style, the team was on hand with lots of treats and drinks to keep the teams going, with Gary one of our Magicians helping to spread smiles in between games.

A huge thank you to everyone involved for helping to make the day so special including our sponsor Downing LLP, Misfits Health for donating the protein bars and our amazing teams for taking part: Opticore IT, Hamilton Court FX, Convex Insurance, West One Loans (Enra Finance), Canary Wharf Contractors, McVitie’s and The Corinthia London.

Please do get in touch with us at fundraising@spreadasmile.org if you or your company are interested in supporting us or joining us for one of our fundraising events.

William Harvey Hospital Launch

William Harvey Hospital partnership

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Spread a Smile today announces its newest partner, William Harvey Hospital, an NHS Hospital in Willesborough, Ashford in Kent. Seriously ill children and young people receiving treatment at the hospital, along with their families, are invited to join the Spread a Smile family and benefit from their services, including monthly in person visits to the Padua Paediatric Ward, visiting both inpatients and outpatients, virtual visits and treat drops.

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. William Harvey Hospital joins 26 other major and speciality NHS hospitals and 2 hospice partners already supported by Spread a Smile, taking the charity one step closer to its aim.

The Spread a Smile team of talented entertainers, including musicians, artists, magicians and therapy dogs, will spend quality time with patients in hospital through one-to-one visits and group sessions. Patients and their families will also be able to access virtual online events and activity sessions, including art clubs, balloon modelling, music lessons and more, enabling the charity to see and support as many people as possible. All with the aim of spreading hundreds of smiles and a lot of happiness to children undergoing treatment for serious illness and their families.

Alongside Spread a Smile’s hospital visits and virtual sessions, children at William Harvey Hospital will be able to join special themed activity days celebrating seasonal occasions such as Easter and Christmas, plus family outings and events, giving seriously ill children and their families the opportunity to join in with fun and exciting experiences that they may otherwise not have access to.

Ailish O’Hara, Play Specialist at William Harvey Hospital said, “The partnership between Padua Ward and Spread a Smile is a relatively new one but already we can see an amazing impact on our ward. Patients big and small really benefit from the opportunity to talk, laugh and have fun with the Spread a Smile team. Both Jasmin and Louise are an absolute credit to the charity, and they ensure that each child’s experience is tailored to their Individual needs. Each time they visit they truly spread so much joy and fun!” 

Laura Walter, Director of Services for Spread a Smile said of the partnership, “It is Spread a Smile’s mission to reach and support as many seriously ill children and young people as possible across the UK. We are therefore extremely proud of our new partnership with William Harvey Hospital and are looking forward to working closely with the hospital team to spread smiles where they are needed most.”

You can find out more about our work spreading smiles here.

Please consider helping to ensure the future of our services by making a donation. Thank you.

The Happy Hoodie Company

Smile Hoodie spreads smiles

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Every child, teenager and family member we support becomes part of the Spread a Smile family and we are proud to bring a little joy during one of the most difficult times of their lives.

We’ve been supporting Kaiden and his family since September 2022 after he was diagnosed with a brain tumour and earlier this year, we were so grateful when Kaiden’s Mum Kathryn got in touch to sign up for our fundraising abseil to help raise vital funds to ensure we can continue our support for children like Kaiden.

“As a parent, Spread a Smile means the world. Kaiden can’t go to school or see his friends and not being able to go anywhere is tough for him. But through their online sessions, Kaiden has made friends. He chats to people, engages with them, laughs and can just be Kaiden again. It’s lovely to see and I don’t know what we’d do without them. That’s why we wanted to give something back. To show how much they mean to us and to help make sure they can be there for other families like ours.” Kathryn, Kaiden’s Mum

Kathryn, along with husband Simon and Kaiden’s Uncle all took on our the abseil from the ArcelorMittal Orbit, raising over £1,500 to help spread smiles to seriously ill children and their families. And the family’s support and commitment to Spread a Smile hasn’t stopped there as they recently launched a new range of hoodies with donations from sales pledged to Spread a Smile and the charity ‘It’s Never You’.

Kathryn said, “The Happy Hoodie Company is proud to introduce its exclusive charity hoodies, designed to raise funds for two incredible organisations that have been a lifeline to me, Kaiden, and our family during our toughest times.

The Happy Hoodie Company“With a shared commitment to spreading happiness, The Happy Hoodie Company will donate £5 from the sale of their Peppermint and Pink Cowl Smile Hoodie to Spread a Smile. This hoodie symbolises the joy and positivity that Spread a Smile brings to the lives of children facing serious illnesses. We hope that our customers and supporters will show their solidarity by buying one of the hoodies and joining The Happy Hoodie Company in making a lasting impact on the lives of those in need.”

The Spread a Smile ‘Smile Hoodie’ is on sale now and you can snap one up here.

We’d like to say a huge thank you to The Happy Hoodie Company, Kathryn, Kaiden and the whole family for their wonderful support. It really does mean the world to us.

You can read more about Kaiden and why your support is so important here.

Spread a Smile Activity Book

Spread a Smile Activity Book

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We are delighted to announce the launch of our new Spread a Smile Activity Book which is aimed at children of all ages and will be distributed to patients receiving treatment at our NHS Partner hospitals.

The Activity Book is packed full of fun activities for children to enjoy and complete whilst they are in hospital, including pictures to colour in – hand drawn by one of our artists – stickers and games. It comes complete with a pack of colouring pens, plus space to add personal pictures and write down thoughts, feelings and experiences, providing a creative outlet for emotions.

Our aim is to provide a practical and useful resource for seriously ill children and young people to use whilst in hospital, helping to distract and engage during periods of treatment, isolation or recovery.

This Activity Book has been made possible thanks to generous support from Rhona Sutton, who designed and produced the book. An initial delivery of 1,500 Activity books will be making it’s way to our hospital partners over the next few weeks, with a further delivery of 2,000 books coming later in the year. (See the film below for a quick flick through of the book).

Laura Walter, Director of Services for Spread a Smile said, “At Spread a Smile we know first-hand how distressing a hospital stay can be for the children and families we support. Our Activity Book aims to provide an avenue for self-expression, creativity and relaxation, enabling children to forget their treatment and illness, even if just for a short time. A lot of the drawings in the book are of familiar Spread a Smile faces – our entertainers, therapy dogs, fairies and magicians. We want the children we support to know that we are always there for them, even when we are not physically in the room.”

A huge thank you to Rhona and we’re looking forward to sharing more of the Activity Book in the future.

Any of our NHS hospital partners wishing to receive some of our Activity Books for their patients should email us at events@spreadasmile.org

Spread a Smile Summer Party 2023

Summer Party 2023

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On Thursday 15 June we held our annual Summer Party at Coram’s Fields, London and what an amazing day it was!

Summer Party 2023

We were delighted to welcome over 400 of the children and young people we support including their families and also some of our colleagues from our NHS hospital partners. It was a fun day packed full of so much laughter and joy.

“The boys today had a such a fabulous time and enjoyed themselves very much. Our younger son said to his Mum whilst waiting in one the queues, “Look Mum, they are spreading smiles on everyone’s faces – everyone is happy!” Parent

Our teams of volunteers were on hand, running different stalls for our guests to enjoy and there really was something for everyone, from arts and crafts, face painting, nail art, glitter tattoos, slime making, friendship bracelet making, biscuit decorating, teddy bear t-shirt and tote bag decorating and water bottle personalisation.

Summer Party 2023We were joined by Wild Science who brought along some gorgeous animals to hold and learn more about, including guinea pigs, rabbits and snakes. Our friends from the LEGO Group were  on hand with trays full of LEGO® for everyone to get creative building and playing games and sets the children could take home afterwards, plus Hasbro manned their own Hasbro Nerf Blast and creation station! Guests also enjoyed the Gaming Party Bus – a state of the art mobile video game wagon, plus a truly slimy slime making experience with Slime Planet.

Our brilliant team of Spread a Smile entertainers joined us to fill the day with music, singing, dancing, bubbles, magic, poetry and much more. We were also treated to a very special interactive performance from Embracing Arts, who put on a fantastic interactive theatre show.

There were food and treats galore including ice cream rolls from our partners Pan’n’Ice using a very special Spread a Smile ice cream flavour and delicious wood fired pizzas from the Wandering Pizza Company.

Summer Party 2023We are extremely proud to be able to deliver days such as this for the families we support. The sun shone and it was a wonderful opportunity for our guests to put aside their illnesses and worries for an afternoon and enjoy being together.

We can’t thank our wonderful volunteers enough for giving up their time to make the day possible, plus all of our generous corporate supporters who donated supplies, food and drink. Thank you to our friends from BlackRock, Hasbro, Convex Insurance, Corinthia London, Derwent, Downing LLP, Enra Specialist Finance, Hain Celestial UK, Hartleys, ICAP, the LEGO Group, McVities, OpticoreIT, Pan’n’Ice, Spring Finance Limited and Uncommon and to the Children’s Welfare and Research Foundation for their generous support of this event. 

Thank you to all of our friends, families and colleagues for joining us and making our Summer Party 2023 one to remember. We’re looking forward to next year already. Watch this space for details of our Winter Party. 

“All I can say is… what a day! I left with a full heart and huge admiration for you and the team and volunteers. It was incredible and thank you so much for inviting us.” Guest

To help ensure we can continue to spread smiles to seriously ill children and young people, please donate here. Thank you.

Louise Spread a Smile entertainer

Meet entertainer Louise

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Louise is one of our entertainers, sharing her many skills as a balloon artist, magician, face painter and children’s entertainer. She has worked with Spread a Smile for two years and is best known for the amazing bespoke balloon models she creates for the children and young people she meets.

How did you start working for Spread a Smile?

Louise Spread a Smile entertainer“I’ve been a children’s entertainer for 20 years, and love everything about my work; the joy it brings people, the fun I share with everyone, and the wonderful teams and people I have the pleasure of working with. I feel incredibly lucky to earn a living from something that brings so much happiness.

“I initially started working for a party franchise as the face painter and balloon modeller and over my time with them, I trained up to become a senior entertainer, fully running their parties and events. I enjoyed it so much, that I eventually set up my own party business and am still loving every second.

“I’ve always included balloon modelling as part of my shows, but started researching balloon art in more detail. I arranged to meet with a local balloon artist and started to attend balloon art learning events and conventions. Since then, I have won many awards for my balloon art, and taken part in special events with some of the best balloon artists in the world.

“Both of my twins have additional needs, and I have worked as a support assistant in two special needs schools. My personal journey has given me lots of experience working with and getting to know lots of children, young people and families, with all sorts of diversities.

“When a friend and colleague asked if he could put me forward to work with Spread a Smile, I was over the moon. The Spread a Smile entertainers are the best and I felt honoured to even be considered. The charity stands for everything my heart loves about my job, and I can relate to how important it is to provide a positive distraction from every day difficulties and challenged. I knew it was something I would love to be part of.

Tell us about your work for Spread a Smile

“I joined Spread a Smile during lockdown in Summer 2020, initially doing magic shows over Zoom until hospitals allowed us back to visit in person. I then started to make bespoke balloon sculptures for children to keep.

Louise Spread a Smile entertainer The Hulk“When I meet a patient, I invite them to ask for a balloon sculpture they would like. I have a ‘menu’ of ideas to inspire them such as spiderman, a mermaid, unicorn, dinosaur, princess, tiger etc, but I am open to trying anything and often suggest they challenge me with an idea! This usually builds the excitement as they begin to think of something they think would be impossible to make. I always take on the challenge, and there aren’t many things I haven’t had a go at making.

“I’m so proud of my work as a Spread a Smile entertainer. We bring distraction and fun for patients and families who spend so much time bored, stuck in hospital, with very little to do, meeting medical professionals and having serious conversations. The entertainers come along with a completely different and new energy, helping people to escape that “hospital feeling” – even if it’s for a short while. We try to make the children we meet feel special, and I love the fact that they get to keep the balloon models and hopefully it will make them smile for days to come.

“It’s brilliant to see the wonder on a child’s face as a simple balloon or two is transformed into something special that they have requested. The parents and carers love it too – it’s a moment of escape where they can forget the severity of what is happening to them.

Tell us about your most unusual requests for balloon models
Balloon model“I’ve had some brilliant requests on my hospital visits, with some of the most memorable including a hedgehog and an axolotl. I make a lot of favourite footballers, Mr Tumble and Elsa. I’ve made balloon versions of favourite toys or pets as a lot of children are missing their pets, so they show me a photo and I build them a balloon version of their cat, dog, rabbit or guinea pig, so that it matches perfectly. I’ve even been asked to make a sculpture of one of the nurses on a ward!”

What about your balloon modelling online workshops

“Balloon modelling workshops are so much fun! Each participant is sent their own pack of modelling balloons and a pump in the post, and I start by teaching the children how to inflate their balloon safely with the right amount of air. Then we learn how to easily tie a knot. We often start with something like a balloon dog, then move onto an advanced flower with one balloon for the petals, and another one for the stem and the leaves. We make sure that we send out lots of spare balloons so that everyone can practice what they have learnt. It’s great to know we can reach even more seriously ill children and their siblings who may be isolating at home and not able to get out and about.”

Why do you do what you do?
“I love the reactions from parents, children, and even the hospital staff.  Quite often they watch me putting something together and have no idea what it will turn into, or they can’t imagine how I could possibly make their wild request from balloons. When it all comes together, the joy and reaction is my favourite part. I love how happy people are to receive a balloon sculpture of something they love. I always say “Can your balloon hang out with you for the day now? Will you let them watch TV with you? Or play your game together?” They always say yes, with a big grin, often hugging their new balloon friend. It brings me so much joy to give something so cherished.

“It’s really special to see the same patients again on my return visits and hear how long their balloon lasted and see photos of what we’ve made together before. One patient has a photo scrap book of all the balloons I’ve made her on each visit. She always plans what she’d like to ask for on my next visit. It’s so lovely for the children and families to have some positive and happy memories of their time in hospital, and I love that we can bring that for them.”

To help ensure entertainers like Louise can continue to spread smiles to seriously ill children and young people, please donate here. Thank you.