News

WWCS has nominated Spread a Smile as its charity partner.

The team at London-based IT support & consultancy brings new skills and focus and is already working with us on joint projects and fundraising plans, including a 24-hour gaming marathon and skydive.

Katie Bain, Operations Manager at WWCS, said, “It’s easy to underestimate the impact a stay in hospital (of any length) has on a child. The amazing work that Spread A Smile does brings happiness, laughter and a welcome distraction to children and their families in hospital. It is an invaluable resource and a break from the often challenging circumstances they find themselves in. This is why the staff at WWCS voted unanimously, and are proud to partner with Spread A Smile.”

We’re incredibly grateful for all their ideas and support and delighted to be working with such a proactive company.

Holidays can be particularly difficult for our children and families but thanks to the generous donations of our supporters we were able to spread lots of chocolatey smiles this Easter.

We created an online egg hunt where children worked in virtual teams to solve a series of puzzles to receive their chocolate reward, hosted a series of art & craft activity days for children and teenagers and delivered more than 1,000 eggs to children under the care of our NHS hospital partners.

Huge thanks to everyone who fundriased and/or donated to our Easter egg wish list, including Hain Daniels Group, ICBC Standard Bank London, Morrisons Chalk Farm, Sainsbury’s Camden and Tesco.

We also ran a Easter card making virtual workshop for seriously ill children and their siblings. We were delighted to see some of the lovely creations.

During the week following Easter we ran activity days for children in hospital as well as those who are shielding at home. The days included art workshops and brownie baking as well as a Wild Science animal show. One mum told us, “Our daughter is in and out of GOSH for the next month and has another operation coming up so we are laying low, that means other than going for long walks we have been very boring. Thank you for making today a little more exciting for the children, they loved it!”

The Royal Brompton Hospital, Chelsea has become our latest NHS hospital partner.  As such, from earlier this month, children and teenagers being treated at the hospital’s specialist centre for the treatment of heart and lung diseases have had full access to our services.

Maxine Ovens, Play Services Manager at The Royal Brompton, said, “Spread a Smile’s virtual sessions have been an incredible resource, particularly at a time when access to real life activities has been limited. Spread a Smile have been able to provide our patients with a range of virtual sessions from art to magicians, and are so flexible and supportive to each individual patient’s specific needs. We’ve had such wonderful feedback from our patients and they always seem to finish the session with a smile! Some of our more regular patients now come to us asking to book a session. Nothing is too much trouble for Spread a Smile. They’re always willing to help support our patients and really go that extra mile to provide a wonderful experience.”

Radiotherapy can be incredibly frightening and traumatic for young patients. For those with brain, head and/or neck cancer, they require masks to hold their heads in position for targeted treatment. Since early 2021 we have been involved with a new initiative at The Royal Marsden Hospital, Sutton, which aims to reduce the anxieties of young children in treatment of head, brain and neck cancers by creating mini radiotherapy masks for their favourite toy.  The mini masks and toys are then used to demonstrate what will happen during their treatment.  Similar to the children’s own masks, our talented Spread Smile artist then hand-paints the mini masks with children’s choice of favourite superhero, TV character or their toy’s original features.

Laura Walter, Director of Services at Spread a Smile explains, “Personalising masks makes them less clinical and the radiotherapy process less frightening.  They also help parents talk more openly with their children about their condition and help children to be more accepting of treatment.  It’s an incredibly important part of Spread a Smile’s work “.

In our April Fundraising Round Up we wanted to give a big shout out to our incredible fundraisers who, over the past month, have been busy helping us to spread smiles.  Sharron Marsh and her daughter, Caitlin (pictured) raffled a Fortnum & Mason Hamper raising over £1,100 and Year 6 at Hymers School in Hull raised £2,259 from their sponsored 10-Day Challenge.

Special mention to Hannah and Tom Jarvis and their amazing little boy, Ben, for their incredible fundraising efforts which have to date raised more than £22,000 for three charities who supported Ben through recent treatment, including Spread a Smile.  In their own words,“Mr Magic would make Ben howl with laughter during the darkest chemo days. Real belly-deep laughs that are pure joy to hear and lift your heart. No child should have to go through the sort of treatment plans that cancers like Ben’s require. But, if they do, it should be with the support of people like the Spread a Smile team – because it’s the smiles and laughter that get them through it.”  For more information on Hannah & Tom’s fundraising please Click Here 

To mark the reopening of The Langham, London on 17 May 2021, the Hotel is launching a new initiative – ‘Stay and Do Good’. The hotel has handpicked ten charities, including Spread a Smile, to support local and national communities each inspired by one of five packages – Future, Empowerment, Care, Together and Heal. Guests can choose their preferred package and The Langham, London will donate £25 per room per stay or  £100 per suite, per stay divided equally between the two charities selected in each package.  Click HERE for more details on the promotion.

Each of the packages will include an overnight stay for two, daily breakfast and a specially selected amenity of a box of chocolate truffles.  With its prominent location set in one of London’s grandest buildings on Regent Street, The Langham, London offers a choice of luxurious guest rooms and suites within walking distance of city’s most covetable sites and amenities.

Stefan Leser, chief executive officer of Langham Hospitality Group comments, “At the heart of our hotels across the globe are the local communities that bring each of the destinations to life.  The work that our charity partners do is critical to future generations and they are aligned with our own Group’s values.  I look forward to working closely with the team at The Langham, London to raise significant funds for good causes in the UK.”

Last year, The Langham, London joined forces with Spread a Smile to offer afternoon tea and a surprise overnight stay voucher to some of the NHS staff that we work with, as well as to many other key workers.

Lucy Jackson, Chief Executive of Spread a Smile, said, “We are delighted to extend our relationship with The Langham, London and be part of Stay and Do Good. Funds raised from this partnership will enable us to spread much needed smiles & laughter to seriously ill and hospitalised children, some of whom are being treated in a hospital in such close proximity to the hotel.”

For more information on The Langham London’s support of NHS workers throughout the pandemic Click Here.

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that thanks to a significant grant from our partners and friends at Bregal Milestone, we have secured 41 iPads to be shared across our NHS hospital partners.  The iPads will be remotely managed by the charity in conjunction with IT provider, Arkphire, and for use by those children and teenagers who do not have access to their own digital devices.  They will be a valuable tool in connecting children with their families and providing access to not only our digital services (virtual bedside visits and Smile TV) but also a host of other age-appropriate apps.

‘The entire team at Bregal Milestone is pleased to have partnered with Spread a Smile and Arkphire to give children in hospital these new tablets during covid-19.  In these times of strict isolation, we hope these tablets will allow children in hospital to stay connected to their loved ones, to enjoy Spread a Smile’s entertainment, and to feel much love and companionship from friends, family and Spread a Smile’.  Jan Bruennler, Philippe Lautenberg & Cyrus Shey, Managing Partners, Bregal Milestone

Photo (taken pre Covid-19) Cyrus Shey and the Bregal Milestone team joined Spread a Smile co-founder, Vanessa Crocker and our entertainers at The Royal Marsden Hospital 

The iPads along with Spread a Smile branded shockproof cases will be delivered to GOSH, UCLH, St Mary’s Hospital, St George’s Hospital, The Royal Brompton, Evelina Children’s Hospital, Kings College Hospital, Royal National Orthopeadic Hospital and Southampton Hospital this month.  They will all be preloaded with games, educational and communications apps that will support children during extended hospital stays distracting them from pain, treatment and the monotony of the hospital environment and, of course, spreading more smiles.  At a time when increasing connectivity and digital access for all families and children, the iPads could never be more welcomed by our hospital partners.

We cannot thank Bregal Milestone enough for making this a reality and increasing connectivity for so many children and families.

World Book Day is the biggest celebration of its kind which aims to celebrate authors, books, illustrators and – of course – reading!  Children in hospital often struggle with their concentration and keeping up with their studies.  Supporting them through initiatives such as World Book Day is therefore imperative.

Every child should feel part of annual celebrations and events and, even in lockdown, we aim to spread smiles with a full programme of activities to bring the outside in.  On World Book Day and we’re thrilled to be partnering with Wonderbly to distribute 200 personalised books to children both in hospital and shielding at home. Daya and her sister, Jasmine, were two of the first to receive their special books, each printed to include their names throughout the story.

In addition, our very own Princess Leia delivered space-themed boxes full of hundreds of books to children and teenagers at Great Ormond Street Hospital and St Mary’s Hospital for all to enjoy and sent them a very special message from the official World Book Day illustrator and friend of Spread a Smile, Rob Biddulph.  CLICK HERE to see Rob’s message and find out his favourite book.

In February we launched Spread a Smile After School Clubs. The club sessions are virtual and run three afternoons a week, and aim to support children in hospital, those receiving treatment at home, and their siblings by providing a safe space to enjoy shared experiences and benefit from peer support.

The clubs are led by our team of professional entertainers. Each week includes at least one art session. Erin, aged 10, joined the one of the first session – her little brother, Leo, is a long-term patient at Great Ormond Street Hospital and Erin is at home in Wales. Natalie, Erin’s mum, said, “The art session left Erin feeling proud and happy. She has so much worry going on in her mind about her brother. The After School Club took her mind somewhere else. She was so proud of what she achieved and couldn’t wait to ring me and tell me about it.”  More photos include Annabelle’s icecream and a second with her brother, Austin’s showcasing their colourful seascapes.

For March, we’re running a weekly magic session plus, for under 5s, music and singing sessions.  If you would like to receive more information on After School Club and all of our services for seriously ill children and their siblings please CLICK HERE.