News

Annual Golf Day for Louie

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Spread a Smile was proud to be invited by the Hibberd family to once again join their annual Golf Day in memory of their son Louie, who sadly lost his life to a brain tumour four years ago.

Now in its fifth year, this very special event stands as a lasting tribute to Louie, bringing together 100 friends and golfers to remember Louie and help raise much needed funds for our work spreading smiles to seriously ill children and their families.

Stuart Hibberd, Louie’s Dad said, “Spread a Smile supported Louie and the family after his diagnosis and whilst he was receiving treatment. Although as a family it’s totally devastating to have lost our loving, kind beautiful little boy, we can at least take some solace in the fact that the funds raised will go a long way to help other families that have gone through or are about to go through what we have.”

It was a privilege to be part of this beautiful day which saw tears and laughter shared and over £16,000 raised for charity, including Spread a Smile.

As always, a huge thank you to Stuart Hibberd, his family and everyone involved for choosing to do so much to help spread smiles to other families during the most difficult time of their lives.

Please do get in touch with the team at fundraising@spreadasmile.org if you are interested in supporting our work. Thank you.

BGC Charity Day – Out of this world

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Spread a Smile was delighted to be invited to join the 20th anniversary BGC Charity Day last week.

This very special day marks the anniversary of 9/11, paying tribute to those who tragically lost their lives in the World Trade Centre. To date, over £210 million has been raised for charities around the world, and each year, the team at BGC London organise a party for the families connected to the recipient charities joining in the fun on the day.

Spread a Smile’s entertainers were on hand to spread smiles and fun at the space themed party, offering face-painting, balloon modelling, fairy magic, singing, glitter tattoos and so much more. The atmosphere was incredible and it was wonderful to share in this brilliant day which does so much for so many good causes around the world.

A huge thank you to everyone involved and please do get in touch with Team Smile if you’d like to know more about how Spread a Smile can support your company with your CSR goals.

New partner – Oxford Children’s Hospital

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Spread a Smile is delighted to announce its latest hospital partner, the Oxford Children’s Hospital, located on the John Radcliffe Hospital site in Oxford and part of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH). The hospital cares for people across the surrounding area and children and young people receiving treatment, 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. OUH joins 33 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 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 in-person visits. Patients and their families will also be able to access weekly virtual group activity sessions, including art clubs, magic, storytelling 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 illnesses and their families.

Young patients at the Children’s Hospital will also be able to join special themed virtual activity days celebrating seasonal occasions during school holidays, benefit from regular treat drops and enjoy entertainer visits scheduled throughout the year.

Joanne Pinney, Health Play Specialist Team Manager at OUH, said: “The team at Oxford are very excited for the new partnership with Spread a Smile. It has taken a long time for us to be able to have visitors to the ward areas following the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, we are able to witness the sounds of children singing along with a fairy or the laughter and delight as magic tricks are performed. Thank you so much to Spread a Smile for bringing so much fun to us. We look forward to many more exciting visits from the charity.”

Lucy Jackson, Spread a Smile Chief Executive added, “Spread a Smile’s partnership with OUH means we will be able to reach and support even more seriously ill children, young people and their families across the country. It is a pleasure to work closely with their brilliant teams to help spread smiles and bring joy and laughter to young people under the hospital’s care.”

To find out more about Spread a Smile’s work across the country with our different hospital and hospice partners, please click here.

Arsenal Tour for families

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Exciting times last month as we took 10 of the families we support for a visit to the Arsenal football stadium in Highbury for a very special family day out.

We started the day with lunch in the Community Hub accompanied by entertainment from Spread a Smile’s Mr Magic, Fairy Francesca and face painting by Marina, with everyone receiving some lovely gifts from Arsenal staff including sticker books, bucket hats and bags.

The Arsenal mascot Gunnersaurus also made a special appearance, posing for photos and high fives and helping to create lasting memories.

Our families were then treated to a tour of the stadium, taking in the press conference room, physiotherapy area and changing rooms where there was the opportunity for our football fans to pose with their favourite players’ shirts. A visit to the pitch itself was definitely a highlight, with photos in the managers dug out and an opportunity to ask any questions about the pitch and the stadium, before heading up to one of the private boxes to view of the pitch in all its glory.

Back in the Community Hub, our Arsenal host organised lots of games and football skills on the training pitches, taking every care to include everyone and organising games for the younger children and wheelchair friendly activities too.

It was such a brilliant day for everyone there and a very special opportunity for our families to do something really exciting and special together.

Our thanks go to everyone at Arsenal for going above and beyond to create such a brilliant atmosphere and making everyone feel so welcome.

To find out more about our family events, please click here.

Family Afternoon Tea

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We’ve been partnering with the amazing team from Riding House Restaurants since January 2022 and last week saw another gorgeous tea party for the families we support at the beautiful Riding House Café, Bloomsbury. 

Together we welcomed 70 children, young people, their siblings and family members for a delicious afternoon tea, with Spread a Smile entertainers on hand to spread even more smiles and fun through music, magic, face painting and much more. 

The tea parties help to provide respite and moments of relaxation, togetherness and enjoyment for our families in amongst the pressures of hospital stays and treatment for serious illness.

Lucy Jackson, Chief Executive, Spread a Smile said, “We are so grateful to our friends at Riding House Restaurants for all their commitment and support. Our families love visiting Riding House Café for their very special tea parties and it’s wonderful to see so many smiles and happy faces knowing that we are helping to provide our families with a special opportunity for connection and fun. 

“By adding 25p to each bill, Riding House Restaurants have also helped raise an incredible £55,223 for our wider work spreading smiles to seriously ill children and young people in hospital – which will have a huge impact on our work.”  

Riding House Restaurants said “Our ongoing partnership with Spread A Smile is hugely important to us all at Riding House Restaurants. It was our pleasure to host the Tea Party once again at Riding House Bloomsbury and work with the incredible team at Spread A Smile to help bring laughter and smiles to the children and their families”

A huge thank you to all of our families for joining us and to everyone at Riding House Restaurants for their brilliant support.  

Read more about Spread a Smile’s family events here. 

Annual residential trip to Flynne’s Barn

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Following on from the success of previous residential trips to Flynne’s Barn in the heart of the Cumbrian mountains, this year, Spread a Smile accompanied a small group of young people for a very special time away.

Our guests travelled with the Spread a Smile team by train to the Lake District, spending a happy and activity filled couple of days, enjoying the countryside and making special memories together.

Flynne’s Barn is a very special place, set up by Katherine, Robin, and their son Harry, after their 17-year-old daughter sadly died of cancer in 2016. Named in her memory, Flynne’s Barn is a place where young people living with cancer can come together to find peace and forge friendships in the beautiful Lake District surroundings. It recognises and celebrates Flynne’s love of nature and fearless positivity in making meaningful connections with other young people with cancer and has become a mission that Katherine and Robin have put at the centre of everything they do.

On day one our guests enjoyed indoor crafts (due to the rain!) before bushcraft activities in the afternoon, including building fires and roasting marshmallows then music, singing in the evening.

Day two brought the opportunity to walk some gorgeous Alpacas, followed by an exhilarating trip in a Land Rover to the summit of Fleetwood Pike for amazing views of Scafell Pike and the surrounding fells, accompanied by hot chocolate and marshmallows. After a busy day out and about, everyone loved making their own pizzas for dinner in the evening and having fun together.

As one of our guests said, “Flynne’s family made me feel at home. This holiday has been one of my favourites so far, leaving a lasting impact on me. It wasn’t just the wonderful environment but, more than anything, the people who made it special.

“I’m incredibly grateful to be part of a cancer community where we share similar stories and truly understand each other.

“Thank you, Spread a Smile, for the unforgettable trip and for making my cancer journey happier again and again.”

Thank you to all of our supporters who make trips such as this possible.  Also to Flynne’s Barn for being such wonderful hosts and our amazing team for making the event so memorable.

Click here to donate and help us continue to provide these wonderful opportunities for the families we support.

 

East Surrey Hospital – New partner

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Spread a Smile today announces its latest hospital partner, East Surrey Hospital in Redhill, which is part of Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Healthcare Trust. The hospital cares for people in Redhill and the surrounding Surrey and Sussex areas. Children and young people receiving treatment, 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.  East Surrey Hospital joins 32 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 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 with monthly in-person visits. Patients and their families will also be able to access weekly virtual group activity sessions, including art clubs, magic, storytelling 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 illnesses and their families.

Children at East Surrey Hospital will also be able to join special themed virtual activity days celebrating seasonal occasions during school holidays, benefit from regular treat drops and enjoy entertainer visits scheduled throughout the year.

Geraldine Rapu, Health Play Apprentice, East Surrey Hospital said, “Our initial visits with Spread a Smile to the hospital have been absolutely amazing. Their entertainers visit as many patients as possible across the different units including Day Procedures, Child Assessment, Paediatric A&E and the general wards and everyone we meet loves them. The Spread a Smile team are so good at adapting for each child depending on their age or needs, taking care to see what will work best for them.

They even make sure siblings are included, a recent example being when one of our patients was having a blood test in another area of the hospital, they entertained his brother in the waiting area. It’s lovely seeing the children respond, laugh and enjoy themselves and we are so grateful to the Spread a Smile team for sharing their magic with patients and staff alike.”

Lucy Jackson, Spread a Smile Chief Executive added, “Spread a Smile’s partnership with East Surrey Hospital is an opportunity to reach and support even more seriously ill children, young people in and their families. We are delighted to be working together to develop a meaningful and impactful relationship which will support help to spread smiles and bring joy and laughter to young people under the hospital’s care.”

Find out more about our NHS hospital and hospice partners here.

Jacob’s wish

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We’ve been supporting Jacob since we met him in hospital whilst he was receiving treatment for a brain tumour. Mum Donna told us, “We were in one Friday and met one of the lovely Spread a Smile artists who created a beautiful sign for him to go on his box for all his hospital playthings. Jacob loves Rubik’s cubes so the artist drew his name on it with a Rubik’s cube, which he loved. We also met a balloon modeller who made him a Rubik’s cube out of balloons. She said she’d never made one before, but she did a brilliant job and he thought it was fantastic.

“After that Jacob would look forward to going into UCLH every Friday as he knew he would see the Spread a Smile team. It helped him get through the week. Even though it was the worst time of my life, if you ask Jacob, he will say it was the best time because of Spread a Smile. He looks back at that time at UCLH so fondly and they helped him deal with what he was going through and find a routine within it which was so important.”

Jacob is doing well and has regular MRIs to keep an eye on his brain. He said, “Spread a Smile are really COOL! I love the magicians and the dog that came in was really cute. I met a guy that made up poems and he made up one about my Auntie and Cousin coming to visit. It was so brilliant.”

Recently we were honoured to support Jacob’s wish with the charity Make a Wish, which provides wishes for children with critical illnesses. Jacob’s wish involved visiting the team at UCLH where he received treatment, for a party with Spread a Smile entertainers. Mr Magic and Collette from Spread a Smile joined in the fun helping to spread smiles and provide a party to remember for Jacob. It was such a special day for us all, making us proud to think of the impact we’ve made for Jacob and his family.

Donna said, “Spread a Smile has given us so much. Everyone is so awesome. A lot of people have helped us through this awful time but Spread a Smile has helped us both more than anyone. They were there for us at the worst of times in hospital and to this day as well. I’ve felt so supported and less isolated and that means so much.” 

To make a donation to help ensure we can continue to support children and young people like Jacob, please click here.

Family event at Met Lounge, London

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It was party time last week with an incredible event at the beautiful Met Lounge in Fitzrovia, London for some of the teenagers we support and their families.

40 people joined us for a delicious dinner with spectacular views of London, accompanied by amazing performances from the Met Lounge’s resident singer, Sharlette and the outstanding electric violinist Stringz Official.

Our VIP guests were on their feet dancing and singing along, with Spread a Smile entertainers on hand to add to the fun with magic, facepainting, poetry and making personalised caps, t-shirts and bags.

The event was designed to provide something really special for some of the older children we support and was a huge success with so much laughter, fun and happiness shared across the evening.

We’d like to say a huge thank you to Nicholas Lazari and John Themis from Lazari Investments for making this incredible event possible and we really look forward to doing lots more together in future. We were delighted to welcome them both to see first-hand the difference they are helping to make through their generosity and support. They really made sure our families felt thoroughly spoilt, also providing goody bags for the young people to take home with all sorts of treats and gifts inside.

It made us so happy that everyone left with huge smiles on their faces and lots of happy memories made.

Take on the Vitality London 10k

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Join Team Smile for the celebratory Vitality London 10,000 on Sunday 22 September and help spread smiles to seriously ill children and young people.

Whether you’re aiming for a personal best or looking to enjoy a relaxed 10k run through the capital, this event is perfect for you.

The route will take you past iconic London landmarks like St Paul’s Cathedral and Big Ben and is a run not to be missed.

Register now for £15 and please do get in touch with Rimi at rimi@spreadasmile.org to chat through any details.

Event details: Vitality London 10,000 (10k run) – Central London
Event date: Sunday 22 September
Registration fee: £15
Fundraising target: £150