News

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

Entertainer Variety Show

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Spread a Smile is delighted to announce its first ever Entertainer Variety Show – a very special fundraising event where will showcase the talents of the charity’s amazing entertainers, providing guests with the opportunity to experience first-hand the joy and happiness they bring to everyone they meet.

The Variety Show will take place on Wednesday 13 November from 7:30pm at The Bedford, Balham – a venue renowned for hosting gigs for many famous musicians and comedians, including Ed Sheeran and Joe Lycett.

Spread a Smile entertainer and Visit Manager, Sar (also known as Sar with the guitar), has been working closely with the charity’s fundraising team to curate the event saying, “During my time working with Spread a Smile I’ve met countless brave and inspiring children and their families, as well as collaborating with a phenomenal group of talented performers.

“The inspiration behind the Variety Show fundraiser stems from a desire for family and friends to witness for themselves the magic of Spread a Smile entertainers. This event is a celebration of the charity’s remarkable work and a chance to raise awareness and support this brilliant cause.

“With performances from musicians, singers, magicians and more, we can’t wait for everyone to join us for what looks set to be a brilliant night out.”

All proceeds from the show will go towards raising vital funds for Spread a Smile’s work spreading smiles to the families we support during some of the darkest times of their lives.

Get your tickets now!

Entertainer Variety Show
Date: Wednesday 13 November, 7.30pm
Venue: The Bedford 77 Bedford Hill, Balham, SW12 9HD
Ticket price: £23.50
Drinks and food available to buy at the venue.

Intensive Care Library Project

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Spread a Smile is delighted to introduce our new Intensive Care Library Project which will see us set up a Spread a Smile book library in six of our NHS hospital partners for families with children on intensive care and high dependency units. 

When a child is diagnosed with a serious illness, life can become very unsettled, scary and unfamiliar, controlled by schedules, treatment plans and prolonged hospital stays away from family and friends. Through our book libraries Spread a Smile will provide a way for children and their families to find comfort and calm through the familiar activity of reading together. 

The project follows on from the success of Spread a Smile’s pre-recorded soothing nursery rhyme and song collection which are available for children to watch and enjoy on our Smile TV digital viewing platform. The libraries will contain a range of story books which families can borrow to read with their children, enjoying special moments of connection.

Online bookstore, Pickled Pepper Books is generously supporting this new initiative, providing an online book list of sensitive and age-appropriate books for children of all ages and stages. Supporters can purchase books from the online store at a discounted rate to be sent to Spread a Smile and distributed to the libraries, providing a wonderful gift for families with children in hospital.

Alongside the onsite libraries, one of Spread a Smile’s talented storyteller, Posey will be recording a series of stories for families to access via Smile TV whenever they need them.  

If you would like to purchase a book for our libraries, you can do so here.

Thank you to so much for helping to spread smiles during some of the darkest times for the families we support.

Blackstone Cheque presentation

Blackstone Gives Back Challenge secures grant

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Spread a Smile is delighted to announce that we have been chosen as the first-place EMEA beneficiary charity by the Blackstone Charitable Foundation as part of their ‘Blackstone Gives Back Challenge’. 

The initiative calls on Blackstone employees around the globe to pitch for their favourite charities to receive grants from their Charitable Foundation. Spread a Smile was represented in EMEA by Antonia Voss, Laura Troy, Rebecca Flower and Georgie Bannister, who delivered their pitch to secure first place for the charity. 

This incredibly generous grant will have a huge impact for Spread a Smile over the coming months with the charity’s Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson saying, “Spread a Smile relies completely on donations from individuals and companies to continue our work bringing joy and laughter to seriously ill children and their families. We are so grateful to everyone at Blackstone for choosing to support our work and for helping us to ensure that we can be there for even more families during some of the darkest times of their lives.” 

To find out more about Spread a Smile’s work delivering in-person entertainer visits, virtual sessions and more, please click here.  

Summer Party 2024

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The Spread a Smile annual Summer Party returned to Coram’s Fields in London on Thursday 25 July and it was another incredible day filled with fun, laughter and smiles.

We were joined by 780 children, young people, family members and colleagues from our NHS hospital partners and we loved seeing so many of our families and friends coming together to enjoy themselves.

“We’ve had the most incredible day. Thank you all so much to everyone who’s been part of it. My husband and I have come with our little boy Jacob who’s got leukaemia and our little girl, and we’ve had the most magical time together. To spend time together as a family has been wonderful. We’ve had so many laughs and everything he could wish for is here – thank you so much!” Mum, Lucy

The Spread a Smile team once again went all out to put on our best party yet, with so much for our guests to do and enjoy. Over 160 volunteers gave up their time to run a range of different stalls for our guests to enjoy including arts and crafts, face painting, nail art, glitter tattoos, animal petting, slime, football, friendship bracelet making, biscuit, hat and tote bag decorating and water bottle personalisation.

We were joined by Anna’s Animals who brought along some gorgeous animals including tortoises and rabbits. Our friends from the LEGO Group were on hand with trays full of Lego for everyone to get creative building with, plus Hasbro manned their own interactive game stations! Guests also enjoyed making beautiful flower crowns with Freddie’s Flowers, their own bespoke smiley BN biscuits with McVitie’s and the slimiest slime with Slime Planet. And everyone enjoyed the inflatable football goal from Non-Stop Action and the Pop-Up Arcade.

Our brilliant team of Spread a Smile entertainers filled the day with music, singing, dancing, bubbles, magic, poetry and much more. Thomas, Chocco and Zara our therapy dogs also loved meeting lots of new friends.

There were food and treats galore including ice cream rolls from our partners Pan-n-Ice, wood fired pizzas from the Wandering Pizza Company and delicious treats from our friends at Mildred’s, Brigit’s Bakery and Lola’s Cupcakes.

We are extremely proud to be able to deliver days such as this for the families we support, and it was a wonderful opportunity for our guests to put aside their 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 supporters who donated supplies, food and drink.

A special thanks to our friends from Children with Cancer UK and the Children’s Welfare and Research Foundation for their generous support

Thank you to all of our friends, families and colleagues for joining us and making our Summer Party 2024 one to remember. We’re looking forward to next year already.

“Yesterday we attended the Summer Party for the first time…it was truly magical and beyond anything we had imagined. Thank you for throwing such an amazing event! The highlight of the whole day for Layla was dancing with Peppa Pig. She threw herself into it and didn’t stop until Peppa had to go for a rest.

“There definitely was something for everyone, and so many opportunities for creativity with bag and cap designing, open spaces and seated areas, and so many snacks! It was lovely to see so many children enjoying their day, and for me to see my two babies together, enjoying their day out, just being ‘normal’ siblings on a fun day out. They have been forced to spend so much time apart from each other/ limited to hospital visits for so long, so this was really special.” Hena, Layla and Idris

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