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Spread a Smile works with 25 hospital partners across the UK, supporting Play Specialist and paediatric care teams to bring joy to seriously ill children and young people in hospital.

As a thank you and in recognition of their amazing work, last month we welcomed 50 Play Specialists and other healthcare professionals to Riding House Cafe in Bloomsbury, London for a special get together.

The Spread a Smile team works closely every day with hospital play and care teams to try and make life a little bit easier for patients on the wards. Our days and visits are always busy, so it was fantastic to be able to bring people together outside of work to network, share experiences and celebrate the incredible work being carried out across our hospitals.

As Lizzie Penn, Senior Play Specialist from Great Ormond Street Hospital said: “I was delighted to join the amazing Spread a Smile team for the opportunity to meet colleagues and Play Specialsts doing similar jobs in other hospitals. It was great to find ourselves in a relaxed, social setting, able to talk face-to-face about our day-to-day experiences.

“We are genuinely grateful to Spread a Smile for adapting their services to meet the needs of our patients and always responding and supporting us in such a positive way. Last night really brought home how we are part of a brilliant wider team which brings joy to the young people, during some of the most challenging of times.”

A Play Specialist’s role in hospital is a vital one and we work closely with them to facilitate their aims. Through play we help children to achieve developmental goals, master and cope with anxieties and feelings and prepare for hospital procedures. We also provide immeasurable support and joy to families and siblings.

Thank you to all of the play and healthcare specialists we work with for everything they do to support seriously ill children. We are proud to work with you.

October saw some brilliant fundraising initiatives and activities which went the extra mile to raise vital funds for Spread a Smile.

Our Chief Executive Lucy Jackson along with friends Caroline Kleinman, Melanie Wynne and Lauren Ornstein took on the Three Peaks Challenge in October, walking 23 miles, climbing 3400m in just 24 hours.

The weather was against them all weekend, with pouring rain, snow showers, high winds and even a hail-storm. But that didn’t stop them and they climbed the UK’s three highest peaks, Ben Nevis, Snowdon and Scafell Pike managing to raise an incredible £9,600 in the process.

A brilliant team of 19 runners took part in the Royal Parks Half Marathon, running 13.1 miles and raising £11,000 between them. This included a group representing ‘Team Keeva’ who have taken on a few fundraising challenges for Spread a Smile because of the support we’ve given to Keeva, one of the runner’s daughters.

“When Keeva was first diagnosed, it felt like the pits of hell. Then Spread a Smile came along, and they were so jolly and welcoming and lovely, it gave us an uplift that we needed. They are a family you join, and it becomes part of your journey. Spread a Smile was a breath of fresh air. They brought fun and sparkles and balloons. For Keeva it was her one thing during the week that she looked forward to the most.”

Shout out to Team Keeva: Thomas, Brian, Damian, David, Ed, Michael, Nicola, Nick, Paul, Stephen and our other runners Benji, Emma, James, Josh, Natasha, Ricky, Sherri, Tom and Will.

Also, a special mention to Audrey Godfrey who raised just over £1,000 for Spread a Smile as part of her 80^th birthday celebrations and Mergen Dorjnamjil who ran the TCS London Marathon in support of the charity.

A huge thank you to everyone who has fundraised for us recently. If you would like to take up the fundraising challenge, we’d love to hear from you. Please email the team to find out about our upcoming challenges or how we can support you with your own initiatives.

Play in Hospital Week (PIHW) is a special week which aims to raise awareness of the benefits of play in the treatment of poorly children, this year with a theme of ‘Play for resilience and good mental health’.

Spread a Smile celebrated PIHW in style setting ourselves the target of doing more than ever before in one week. And what a record-breaking week it was!

• We carried out a record number of visits – a whopping 17 in total to 14 hospitals;
• We visited 3 new hospitals: Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Newham University Hospital and Princess Alexandra Hospital; and
• We spread smiles to over 400 children and young people, helping to make their time in hospital a little bit easier.

Play is an essential part of childhood and is at the very heart of mental, social and emotional growth and well-being. It is important that play continues to be part of a child’s life, even when they are admitted to hospital – a time when they are at their most vulnerable.

Spread a Smile Entertainers and staff work closely with and support Play Specialists and Play Workers in 21 Hospitals and 2 Hospices across the UK, providing a wide variety of entertainment and play activities for seriously and terminally ill children and young people. Our aim is to help distract, relieve fear and stress and create a safe, welcoming environment during treatment.

Our work can make a huge difference: “You have helped our daughter on her hardest days not only with her medical issues but with her mental issues too. I feel as a family we can never repay you all enough for your kindness you show to her.”

We are so proud of our achievements for PIHW 2022 and would like to say a huge thank you to our Spread a Smile Entertainers, the hospital play teams and all of the companies that have helped make it so special.

We were thrilled to be able to bring 11 young people and their families to the Riding House Café in Bloomsbury recently for a gorgeous afternoon tea!

We were joined by some of our amazing entertainers who many of the children would have recognised from visits in hospital. Magicians Nick and Sacha put on a great show, while Judge the Poet performed his spontaneous poetry and Marina who did arm and face painting.

The day was a chance for the group to spend time with others their age going through similar experiences as them. Having this shared connection can be vital for young people, to feel that they aren’t alone in their experiences. Many of the patients we support are required to spend extended periods of time in isolation, which means they are unable to socialise with other children their age or attend school full time.

Being able to enjoy time out of a hospital environment with their family is also a rarity and can be a huge relief, as they may not otherwise be able to. The families we support often say that the events we do have as much of an impact on the parents and siblings as the child in hospital themselves. We’re privileged to be able to provide these experiences for so many, alongside our work in hospitals.

Riding House Cafe put on an incredible selection of both savoury and sweet treats! The mac & cheese was a real favourite, while the donuts, red velvet cake, and pancakes made a great spread.

We began our partnership with Riding House Cafés last year, and have since been fortunate enough to bring a number of the families we support to their locations across London. We can’t thank them enough for all their support in hosting these days and putting on an amazing selection of food. They also continue to donate to us regularly through 25p added on to each customer’s bill.

The Spread a Smile Golf Day has become a flagship event in our annual calendar. This year, we were joined by 160 golfers across two days at Brocket Hall in Hertfordshire.

The picturesque course with its beautiful fairways and wide lakes was the perfect setting and most importantly, the weather was mostly clear on both days.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a true Spread a Smile golf day without our incredible entertainers! We brought some of our magicians on to the course to wow the players in between holes which proved very popular and a good way for people to take their mind off of any bad golf. The Spread a Smile team were also on hand with donuts around the course to keep people energised.

We were also lucky enough to share a special video with the attendees, of Abi, who’s child Arianna we support in hospital. Arianna is known in her family as ‘Wonder Woman’, and has been so brave throughout her extensive treatment and hospital stays. We supported Arianna through cancer treatment when she was required to be in isolation for four weeks, without being able to see her family. The video helped to bring to life the work that we do, and show to the golfers why fundraising days like this are so important.

Our main sponsor for the day were Canary Wharf Contractors, who we can’t thank enough for their support.

We’d also like to thank our amazing tee sponsors who lent their names to each hole. These were, Engage FS, Opticore IT, CAE Technology, Franchi, Melburg, HW Fisher, Broadcast Revolution, Enra Specialist Finance, CMS Distribution and BH2.

We’d also like to thank these organisations who were generous enough to donate products and refreshments for the day including Parks London, Karma Drinks, Gold Key Media, SipSmith Gin, Delishious and Slingsby Gin.