News

2nd annual SoHPS conference

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We were proud to be invited to be part of the SoHPS Society of Health Play Specialists 2nd annual conference last week, on Thursday 12 June, celebrating 50 years of play in healthcare.

Our Director of Services, Laura Walter, along with some of the Spread a Smile entertainers were there, sharing our amazing work and how we support the vital efforts of play specialists and teams across our NHS hospital partners.

“The conference is a chance to network and engage with fellow play professionals, celebrate the amazing work of play specialists and hear inspiring stories from health practitioners.

“Play is crucial for physical, social and emotional development and wellbeing and an essential part of childhood. At Spread a Smile, we aim to help bring the benefits of play to children and young people in hospital at a time when it might be more difficult to access and they are feeling most isolated and vulnerable.

“When a child is very unwell, they may spend extended periods in hospital, often away from the comfort of home, family, and friends, and frequently undergoing invasive or distressing treatments. In these challenging circumstances, play is far more than just a pastime — it becomes an essential part of a child’s healing journey.

“Play provides a sense of normality and familiarity, helping children regain some control in an environment that can otherwise feel overwhelming. Through play, children can express their feelings, reduce anxiety, and build resilience.” Laura Walter

Spread a Smile currently supports 39 NHS hospitals, providing opportunities for children in hospital to play, have fun and engage with our entertainers, hospital staff, families and other patients. The SoHPS conference provides an opportunity for health professionals to come together to share experiences and learn from each other, with the aim of doing even more to bring play to children in hospital.

Thank you to the Society of Health Play Specialists and all those involved with organising the conference for making us so welcome. We’re looking forward to next year already.

Hampstead Golf Club Charity Day

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We were honoured to be chosen as the charity partner by Hampstead Golf Club for their Charity Golf Day on Saturday 14 June 2025.

Spread a Smile Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson, along with our Community Fundraising Manager, Tasha Mann and two entertainers, JUDGE the POET, and Gary, one of our magicians, were all there for a brilliant day of golf, food, and fundraising fun.

The 9-hole golf course is London’s hidden gem, and after a round of golf on the beautiful course, guests enjoyed a delicious lunch, with JUDGE and Gary showcasing their skills entertaining tables with spontaneous poetry and magic. Lucy also shared more about the work of Spread a Smile, with guests invited to help spread smiles to seriously ill children and young people through hole sponsorship, an auction and a raffle. We are so grateful to everyone who donated prizes for this, and took part in the bidding.

“It’s been such a pleasure spending a glorious Saturday at Hampstead Golf Club, sharing the work of Spread a Smile and meeting new friends. As a charity which doesn’t receive any government funding, we are so grateful to everyone at the club, guests and sponsors, for their generosity, making the day such a success and helping to raise vital funds to support our work. Thank you to Hampstead Golf Club and to both the ladies’ Captain Sue Brown and men’s Captain Kevin Oppenheim for their support and for making us so welcome.” Lucy Jackson

If you would like to find out more about getting involved with Spread a Smile, please email our Partnerships Manager, Rosie Perkins, at rosie@spreadasmile.org

 

Our Memorial Ceremony with Clarksons

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For the second year running, Spread a Smile was honoured to welcome families we’ve supported over the years to a deeply meaningful, non-religious memorial ceremony. Together, we remembered and celebrated the lives of children and young people who are no longer with us, in a space filled with compassion, reflection, and love.

We are incredibly grateful to our friends at Clarksons for their generous support in making this special day possible. Their team hosted us with great care at their beautiful offices at St Katharine Docks, providing both the venue and refreshments for the day.

The ceremony, led by the heartfelt and moving words of our very own Judge the Poet, invited families to reflect on memories through the symbolism of stones—smooth pebbles for everyday moments, rough stones for painful times, and gemstones for cherished and joyful memories. Each family selected a gemstone to take home and was invited to share written memories on a leaf, which was then added to our special memory tree alongside the name of their loved one.

Following the ceremony, families came together for a relaxed barbecue lunch generously provided by Clarksons. Children and adults alike took part in creative memory-themed arts and crafts, from collages and bracelet-making to bespoke balloon modelling. As a lasting keepsake, our Head of Art, Marina, created personalised memory books for each family to take home, something to fill with photos, stories, and treasured thoughts.

We are sincerely thankful to Clarksons for helping us provide a comforting and respectful space for families to honour their children and find strength in shared remembrance. As Lily Bagshaw, Event Manager at Clarksons, shared:

“Being able to offer our Corporate event space to host the Spread a Smile Memorial event means a lot to Clarksons, we want to be able to offer our help and support to such an incredible charity. It was a deeply moving experience, and you could truly see the comfort and strength it brought to the families who attended. Spread a Smile’s work is nothing short of incredible; the care and joy they bring to those who need it most is inspiring beyond words.”

If your company would like to explore ways to support our work, whether by hosting an event, providing resources, or partnering with us, we’d love to hear from you. Please email us at fundraising@spreadasmile.org.

Our thanks also to Children with Cancer UK for their ongoing support and helping to make this event possible.

If you are a family looking for support, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We are here for you.

Meet Judge the Poet

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Meet Judge the Poet, one of our longest serving entertainers who uses his talents as a poet to spread smiles and wonder and bring joy and distraction to seriously ill children in hospital. We chatted to Judge about his career as a poet and how he started working with Spread a Smile, back when the charity was founded in 2013.

Tell us a bit about your background as a poet
“I am a Spontaneous Poet which involves taking any combination of words, ideas or suggestions from people and then immediately reciting a poem that rhymes, makes sense and features everything they said.

“After completing a degree in English Literature, I wanted to find a way to make poems enjoyable and accessible to as many people as possible. I am very fortunate in my career as I am invited to work all over the world, including for Royalty, celebrities and on TV and radio. And I perform at everything from private parties and celebrations to corporate events, arts festivals, etc.

“For Spread a Smile, I love creating verses for all the brilliant children and their families – and the poems can be as silly or serious as they wish! As well as being a unique and unusual entertainment for them, it can also be helpful and meaningful… as they often ask me to do poems about them, their families, their situation.”

How did you get involved with Spread a Smile and what does your role look like?
“Vanessa Crocker, one of the charity’s wonderful co-founders, had seen my work before Spread a Smile had started. She called me in early 2013 saying there was this brilliant charity starting and asked if I would I like to be involved. And, 12 years later, I’m still glad to do my bit.

“The charity was obviously a lot smaller then and it’s been great to see how it has grown.  It’s such a simple-yet-excellent idea and it really does so much good. I think the ideals and the sincere heart that Josephine and Vanessa instilled into the whole project got it off to a brilliant start. They recruited a really good team of entertainers, looked after them, and made sure that everyone got it right.

“There were obviously fewer of us in those early days and fewer hospitals and visits too.  Now there are over 100 entertainers, although there are still quite a few of us “old-timers”, which is a testament to how much we care about what Spread a Smile can do.

“I still love going into the hospitals and seeing the real impact of our work and how much it helps the patients and their families. As the charity has grown so much, I also sometimes travel to hospitals further afield including Nottingham, Leicester, Bristol, Oxford and Alder Hey in Liverpool.”

What is the impact of Spread a Smile’s work that you see?
“We call it “smiles” and it’s always that, but it is often so much more. Our interactions provide magical moments and memories – something for the children and their families to talk about long after we have left. They are often going through dark and difficult times, and we bring the sunshine and the light.

“I have seen young children, who were not taking their medicine, do so when a fairy sang to them. I’ve heard parents say it’s the first time they have seen their child smile, laugh, or even interact, in weeks. We bring moments of meaning, distraction and hope. Sometimes it’s only when you talk to a patient or their family many years later that they are able to fully explain the amazing and important impact Spread a Smile had.

“And then there are all the events, parties and gifts that Spread a Smile organises, allowing the families to have beautiful, special moments that their difficult journey might otherwise prevent.”

Tell us a little about the importance of the spoken word and your poetry
“Because there is no “script” I can create everything to exactly suit each individual child, their family, and the moment. I also adapt the style depending on the age and personalities involved. While I love performing to all ages, I seem to be particularly successful with some of our more (apparently) difficult-to-please teenagers… who might generally tell people they don’t want any “entertainment”. I love finding a way to get them to respond and, when they fully engage in the moment, it’s great to see the difference it makes. What I do is obviously very different and I truly feel it’s an honour to be able to share this with these amazing patients and families.”

Have you ever been ‘stumped’ by a word request?
“While I’ve never been unable to do a poem using the words they offer, I do get some unusual ones thrown at me.  Sometimes they even want me to find a rhyme for the names of their medicines!  Fortunately, I love a challenge!”

Team Corinthia London fundraising walk

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Spread a Smile is proud to be the charity partner for Corinthia London, one of the top luxury hotels in the heart of London.

Since the partnership began in April 2023, we have been delighted to support and work with their team across some brilliant fundraising, awareness and family related initiatives, events and activities – all of which have made a huge impact for our work spreading smiles to seriously ill children and young people.

Most recently, the team at Corintha London, along with their families, took part in a bespoke fundraising walk around London. With the option of a one or five mile route, over 30 friends and family joined in the fun, enjoying the sights of London, from Big Ben, to the London Eye, and Nelson’s Column. The walk also included a stop at Evelina London Children’s Hospital, one of the NHS partner hospitals supported by Spread a Smile, providing everyone with a chance to connect to the work of Spread a Smile and their motivation for fundraising.

With some of the Spread a Smile fundraising team on hand to guide our brilliant walkers and share more about the charity’s work, the children enjoyed bingo and trivia challenges tailored by our team for both distances. One of our magicians also joined in the fun, showcasing some of the amazing talents that our entertainers share every day in NHS hospitals.

It was such a fun day, and we are so grateful to everyone from Corinthia London who joined us and helped raise vital funds to ensure we can spread even more smiles to seriously ill babies, children and young people.

If you would like to find out more about supporting Spread a Smile, please reach out by email to fundraising@spreadasmile.org

International Day of Play 2025

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On Wednesday 11 June we celebrated the second ever International Day of Play – a global initiative aimed at promoting the essential role of play in children’s lives and recognised by the United Nations.

The day is a reminder that all children have a right to play. That it is crucial for physical, social and emotional development and wellbeing and an essential part of childhood. At Spread a Smile, we aim to help bring the benefits of play to children and young people in hospital, at a time, when it might be more difficult to access and they are feeling most isolated and vulnerable.

This year, our entertainers joined forces with our friends from Hasbro to visit children and young people at some of our NHS hospital partners, including Evelina London Children’s Hospital and St George’s Hospital in Tooting. We welcomed young patients from the wards to join us for creative play sessions in communal playrooms, with board games, Play-Doh, magic, music, singing and more. We also visited the bedsides of children who were not able to leave their rooms, making sure as many children as possible could access the fun.

Laura Walter, Director of Services for Spread a Smile said, “We’re delighted to be working in partnership with Hasbro again to bring the joy and creativity of play to children in hospital. The theme this year is ‘Choose play – every day and this is something that helps drive everything we do, prioritising play and fun even in the most difficult of circumstances.”

Thank you to Hasbro for kindly donating the toys and gifts for this year’s events and to their wonderful volunteers for joining us on our visits to hospital. We were also delighted to join Hasbro at their Head office to celebrate International Day of Play in style.

To donate to ensure we can continue our vital work, please click here.

Children’s Welfare & Research Foundation

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For the third year running, Spread a Smile is proud to have been one of the chosen beneficiary charities for the Children’s Welfare and Research Foundation’s annual Golf Day at Moor Park Golf Club.

Spread Smile’s Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson attended the event along with our Head of Fundraising, Krishan Solanki, with Lucy saying, “It’s always a pleasure joining our friends from the Children’s Welfare and Research Foundation for this wonderful event. We are so grateful for their ongoing commitment and support for our family events, which provide much-needed moments of respite and fun for seriously ill children and their families.”

Every year, Spread a Smile organises a programme of exciting and engaging family events, including West End theatre trips, bespoke lunches and our annual Summer and Winter Parties. These events are completely free of charge and welcome hundreds of seriously ill children, young people, their siblings and family members every year for relaxed, fun days out. They are an opportunity to just enjoy spending time together, meet other families going through similar experiences and put aside the worries of illness and treatment for a short time.

“Thank you, Spread a Smile, for a wonderful morning of fun. So lovely to see all the children being children… building, playing and interacting with each other and the fabulous entertainers.” Parent at a family event

To find out more about how you or your company can support our work spreading smiles, please get in touch with the fundraising team at fundraising@spreadasmile.org

Second Teen Brunch at Mallow

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During the May half-term, we were delighted to return to the gorgeous plant-based restaurant, Mallow in Borough Market, for our second Teen Brunch.

Being a teenager in hospital and undergoing treatment for serious illness can be extremely challenging and isolating, with long periods of time spent away from friends and social activities and limited entertainment options. Spread a Smile’s Teen Brunches are aimed at young people over the age of 12, and are a bespoke opportunity for them to enjoy themselves and meet other young people in a relaxed and welcoming environment.

10 families joined us (25 people in total), with guests enjoying a delicious vegan brunch including scrambled tofu, pancakes, toasties, fruit kebabs and yoghurt with fruits. Spread a Smile entertainers Rosie and Collette performed a medley of pop songs and requests from the families, with magician Nick Einhorn sharing his magic skills and more team members on hand with arts, crafts and glitter tattoos.

The Teen Brunches create a wonderful sense of togetherness, and it was heartwarming to see everyone chatting and enjoying time together over a delicious meal.

Our thanks as always to the brilliant team at Mallow for their support and kindness in making these get togethers possible.

If you would like to find out more about how you or your company can get involved with supporting Spread a Smile, please reach out to our Partnerships Manager, Rosie at rosie@spreadasmile.org – thank you.

Everyman family cinema trip

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On Tuesday 27 May, 15 young patients and their families (51 people in total) joined us at the Everyman Cinema in Kings Cross to watch for a family outing to watch Mufasa: The Lion King!
Spread a Smile organises outings, events and activities such as this to support seriously ill young people, their parents, carers and siblings and bring moments of respite, joyful experiences and enduring memories at the most challenging of times.
Our recent cinema trip did just that, with our families enjoying lots of treats including sweets, chocolates and popcorn plus entertainment from Spread a Smile entertainers with magic, music and fairy sparkle. We were also delighted to welcome volunteers from XTX Markets who got stuck in doing glitter tattoos for our special guests.
The lovely team at Everyman treated everyone to delicious pizzas whilst Spread a Smile’s Mr Magic dazzled guests with a brilliant magic show on the stage. Once everyone was full (of treats and laughter), we all settled down to watch the film and enjoy time out and relaxation together.
We’re so grateful to our friends from XTX for their support and the team at Everyman for making us so welcome.
Please do get in touch if you’d like to find out more about our family events and how you can support them.

Sponsor a therapy dog

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Spread a Smile’s therapy dogs are an integral part of our team of entertainers. They have a unique way of providing physical warmth and affection, distraction and fun. They offer support during stressful or painful medical procedures and can help with rehabilitation and physio exercises. They also help to bring happiness and familiarity for children who are missing their pets at home.

Spread a Smile currently has six amazing therapy dogs working with us, Buddy, Cobi, Harry, Scout, Smartie and Thomas, each bringing so much comfort to children they meet in hospital, plus to wider family members and staff.

 

“We’ve loved the therapy dog visits as we have a dog at home, so whenever Teddy saw one of the Spread a Smile dogs, his face would just light up. He loved stroking them, giving them treats and rolling the ball to them. It was wonderful to watch.”

By sponsoring a Spread a Smile therapy dog, you’ll be helping to ensure they can continue to be there during the most difficult times, providing support in hospital, at our family events and also through focussed initiatives in specialist areas. One example is our work with The Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals, one of UCLH’s specialist hospitals. The Paediatric Dentistry Unit sees complex patients for whom a typical dental visit in primary care would be difficult and since November 2022, we have been trialling the use of therapy dogs to provide support for patients to help reduce anxiety and stress.

Spread a Smile doesn’t receive any government funding and we rely completely on generous donors, companies, fundraisers and supporters to continue our work bringing joy and happiness to seriously ill children, young people and their families across the country.

Click here to meet each of our therapy dogs and find out more about sponsoring Buddy, Cobi, Harry, Scout, Smartie and Thomas, or email Rosie at rosie@spreadasmile.org to get the ball rolling. Together we can ensure our therapy dogs continue to be there for children in hospital during some of the most difficult times of their lives.