News

Popcorn and Smiles

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Be one of the first to get your hands on a bag of Metcalfe’s® Charity Popcorn Sea Salt featuring the Spread a Smile logo.

We are incredibly excited to be able to announce a 3-year partnership with Metcalfe’s® which will see funds donated to us from sales of Metcalfe’s® Charity Popcorn Sea Salt and Variety Mini Packs. The first packs featuring our logo came off the production line very recently so you can expect to see them in a store near you very soon.

The partnership will also see us delivering Metcalfe’s® Charity Popcorn during special hospital visits, cinema nights in hospital and at our family events and parties.

We will launch the partnership to the wider public in the next few months but we were so excited that we wanted to let you, our wonderful supporters, know as soon as possible!

Get In Touch!

 

Winter Party 2019

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A fabulous time was had by all at the Spread a Smile Winter Party on Sunday 24 November 2019. The party was attended by over 300 critically and terminally ill children and their families who the charity has met whilst visiting them in hospital. The party was held at the London Marriott Hotel Regents Park and was generously sponsored by our wonderful friends at Lawsons.

The annual party is a very special event, crammed full of everything to make the perfect party. From face painting to virtual reality, celebrity visitors to character appearances, sushi, pizza, cupcakes, popcorn, magic, fairies, music, a disco and arts and crafts – the best time was had by all the guests. One girl said that she loved “seeing everyone smiling.”

Our fabulous suppliers came and helped create the perfect party atmosphere. We’re sending a huge thanks to Baz & Fred Pizzas, Build a Bear, Lola’s Cupcakes, Metalfe’s Popcorn®, Pan N Ice, Spinmaster, SushiDog, TikTok, Surrey Car Meet, JH Video Entertainment, Pop Up Arcade, Walking Pet Balloon and YR Live Customise Printing. DJ Kwame Knight provided the wonderful party atmosphere and the Spread a Smile Choir performed. There were also special guest appearances from Eyal, Samira and Zara from Love Island and X Factor: Celebrity, Delilah Belle Hamlin and Arsenal star Calum Chambers and character appearances from Minions and PJ Masks.

Lucy Jackson, Chief Executive of Spread a Smile, said, “Our Spread a Smile Winter Party was the best yet! It was wonderful seeing so many children and teenagers having so much fun and hearing so much laughter. We know lots of families will leave here with special memories to cherish. All our generous suppliers helped to create the perfect party atmosphere and it was particularly exciting to welcome our celebrity visitors too. Thank you so much to everyone involved!”

BBC Children in Need 2019

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We hope that you managed to tune into the fabulous BBC Children in Need Live Appeal Show last night (15 November). We’re all so proud of the wonderful Spread a Smile Choir who performed as part of the Children in Need Choir. You can see a clip of their performance here.

We’re now in our fourth year of support from BBC Children in Need and we’re so grateful for their ongoing support, enabling us to visit and entertain even more children and teenagers who are seriously and terminally ill in hospital.

We were so pleased that the BBC Children in Need team decided to revisit the inspirational Moss family, following the airing of their film about Vanessa in the 2017 Appeal Show. Vanessa’s story captured the hearts of the nation and you can see that film here.

Spread a Smile first met Vanessa and her family when she was just four years old, soon after she started her treatment for neuroblastoma at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Vanessa loved her visits from Spread a Smile as they helped take her mind off her treatment. BBC Children in Need filmed Vanessa and her family, including sisters Ruby and Zoe, during the summer of 2017, highlighting how Spread a Smile entertained Vanessa and made a positive difference to her during her time in hospital. Vanessa tragically passed away in September 2017, and the Moss family courageously allowed her story to be aired just two months later.

This year, BBC Children in Need revisited the Moss family, interviewing Ruby and Zoe about Vanessa and about their involvement with the Spread a Smile Choir.

Anna, mum of Vanessa, Ruby and Zoe, now works with Spread a Smile. Anna said, “Vanessa loved singing, and Spread a Smile nurtured that passion. She wouldn’t have even discovered her love of singing if hadn’t been for Collette (our choir leader and singer) and others from Spread a Smile. What a wonderful way to honour Vanessa’s memory by setting up the choir – she would have absolutely loved the choir, and it brings so much comfort to Ruby and Zoe. But it goes beyond that – the children are establishing special bonds and ties – they’re so close, love getting together and are all there for each other. Vanessa would have loved every aspect of the choir – the singing, the friendship, the performance. What I love about Spread a Smile is that they don’t only think about the patients – they extend their offering to other family members including parents and siblings which has been so special for Ruby and Zoe.”

Our co-founders, Vanessa Crocker and Josephine Segal said: “Vanessa Moss was an incredibly special little girl. We first met her shortly after the charity was established and she made such an impact on our whole team.  We are incredibly privileged to now have Anna working with us. She has become an integral part of the team and always goes above and beyond in her role with our supporters, who make our work possible day in and day out. Anna is able to give the whole team an invaluable insight into what life is like for parents of seriously ill children undergoing many years of treatment and is always coming up with innovative ways we can help both children and their parents and siblings who are facing long periods of time in hospital. We are so grateful to Anna for all that she does for Spread a Smile and we feel so fortunate to have her as part of the team. We also feel blessed to have Ruby and Zoe in our choir and have loved watching them take part and make meaningful friendships.”

To see this year’s film, featuring the Moss family, please click here.

 

Choir Appearing on BBC Children in Need

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We’re so excited that the Spread a Smile Choir will be appearing on the BBC Children in Need live show as part of the Children in Need Choir.

The Spread a Smile Choir was established earlier this year and is made up of patients, their siblings and friends, who all gather together to sing. They are led by Spread a Smile’s singer extraordinaire, Collette Spinner. They delivered their amazing debut public performance in May at the Spread a Smile Fundraising Dinner and this will be their second public performance.

The Choir has become such a positive force for so many of the children, with them forming true friendships at their rehearsals. Choir members have said:

“The Choir means everything to me and I like singing with the Choir.”

“I love meeting new friends and being able to sing with them.”

“The Choir means happiness to me.”

Parents have said:

“The Choir gives Lucy something to look forward to apart from a life full of hospital and school and not a lot more! She also meets other kids who have a similar life to hers. It also brings her joy and laughter and time together with friends brought together through  similar circumstances and the joy of singing. Thank you so much Spread a Smile!”

“The Spread a Smile choir has meant so much to the girls as it allows them to sing their little hearts out with very special friends that we have come to know on Keeva’s journey. It inspires them to forget the hardship and look forward to a bright future of singing and smiling. They love every moment and enjoy all the amazing sessions that they have.”

BBC Children in Need recently awarded Spread a Smile with a new three year grant, enabling us to visit and entertain even more children and teenagers who are seriously and terminally ill in hospital. We are so grateful to BBC Children in Need for their ongoing support.

We can’t wait to see the Choir on BBC Children in Need’s Live Appeal Show on BBC1 on Friday 15th November from 7.30pm. Good luck to the wonderful Choir!

Gift Drive 2019

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As the festive period approaches, it always means one thing at Spread a Smile HQ – the best party in town!  And this year WE NEED YOUR HELP to make it an extra special and memorable day for the children and families we meet on our hospital visits.

On Sunday 24th November, we are honoured to host over 300 seriously ill children and their family members at our Smile Party in London. We are busy planning the perfect party and we want to send each and every child home with their very own festive gift.

We’re asking for donations of as many gifts as possible. All we ask is that they are new and that they arrive unwrapped and are selected from the ideas listed below and delivered to us at Spread a Smile HQ (51 Chalk Farm Road, London, NW1 8AN) by TUESDAY 19 NOVEMBER.

Thank you so much for any support that you can give! 

Metcalfe’s ®

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We’re so delighted that Metcalfe’s® has announced that Spread a Smile will be their charity partner for the next two years. Metcalfe’s® will donate a proportion of every sale of its classic Sea Salt flavour Charity Popcorn and Variety multipacks to the charity, with a total donation target of at least £30,000.

Metcalfe’s® is the creator of popcorn and other popular snacks and was the first to market the sweet and salt flavour mix.

Lucy Jackson, CEO of Spread a Smile, said, “Metcalfe’s® support will enable us to spread smiles to seriously ill children and teenagers in hospital at a time when they and their families need it the most. We are incredibly grateful for their support and are looking forward to working together in 2020 and beyond. We can’t wait to see the smiles that this partnership will produce.”

Sarah Henden, Brand Manager at Metcalfe’s® said, “We’re delighted to announce Spread a Smile as our charity partner for the next few years. Over the last seven years, the charity has done outstanding work helping over 7,000 children each year and we’re proud to be supporting this fantastic cause.”

Trinny Spreads Smiles at UCLH

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The wonderful Trinny Woodall and her team of make up artists from Trinny London recently joined us at University College Hospital to makeover teenagers and their mums on the teenage wards there.

Trinny London has been supporting Spread a Smile with their FreshFlush LIP2CHEEKS Mama and Katja colours by generously donating 10% of sales of both to Spread a Smile.

Trinny volunteered to come to UCLH with us to spread smiles to teenagers and their parents. For children, teenagers and their families, life in hospital is all-consuming and personal care definitely takes a back seat. Trinny so generously spent copious amounts of time chatting to all the teenagers and mums that she saw and spread so many smiles with her makeovers, warmth, fun and kindness. One mum emotionally told us, “You have created something so powerful today. When your child is ill, as a mum the last person you think about is yourself. This has been the most amazing day and I’m so grateful.”

Huge thanks to fabulous Trinny and her wonderful Trinny London team for helping to spread countless smiles.

Spreading Smiles with Lola’s

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We’re celebrating our partnership with Lola’s Cupcakes, who have been a wonderful supporter to Spread a Smile for the last six years. 

Lola’s generously support our family events, where we take children, teenagers and their families to West End shows or concerts, by supplying delicious cupcakes for our guests to enjoy at our pre-show party. As one mum said to us recently, “it wouldn’t be a Spread a Smile party without Lola’s cupcakes”. For the last six years, Lola’s have also attended our winter party where they have run cupcake decorating workshops for the children. 

They have also found other innovative ways to support us including donating proceeds from water they sold over the July heatwave, Lola’s Bakery, in West Hampstead, celebrated their second birthday by donating 50p from every cake slice and cupcake sold to Spread a Smile over their birthday weekend and they recently supported a cake decorating workshop with us and WeWork through their new Create a Cake concept. 

Asher Budwig, Managing Director at Lola’s said: “We are proud to support such an amazing charity, that seeks to brighten the days of those that they visit. Here’s to another 6 years supporting Spread a Smile!”

Lucy Jackson, Chief Executive of Spread a Smile said ,”We are so grateful for the generous ongoing support from Lola’s. They consistently go above and beyond with ideas for how to support us and have helped us to spread countless smiles over the years.”

New Head of Art

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Marina Constantinou, our incredibly talented face painter, radiotherapy mask painter and Accounts Manager, was included in this year’s Happy List by The Independent. Marina was recognised for her work painting radiotherapy masks – making the process far less intimidating for children undergoing treatment by decorating their masks in designs that they choose. Designs have included football teams, Sylvanian Families, Minions and lots more. See more about the Happy List here.

We’re excited to announce that towards the end of the year, Marina will be moving roles from Accounts Manager to become Spread a Smile’s first ever Head of Art. Marina will be rolling out her talent in hospitals, with regular face painting visits as well as special 1-2-1 and group art workshops. She will also be a regular at Spread a Smile events. Marina will still be painting radiotherapy masks, and the request for bespoke masks is expected to increase.

Watch this space for regular updates about Marina’s art!

Laura Joins as Head of Operations

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We’re absolutely delighted to have welcomed Laura Walter to the Spread a Smile team in our newly created role of Head of Operations. Laura joins us from University College Hospital (UCLH) where she was a play specialist in the radiotherapy department – and Laura had met many of our Spread a Smile families already. Laura has also recently completed a masters degree in Child Life and Paediatric Psychosocial Care and has a postgraduate diploma in Childhood Bereavement.

Laura’s role at UCLH involved helping children, young people and their families to feel safe and comfortable in the radiotherapy environment and help them understand and cope with their daily treatment. Laura says, “I was very fortunate to be able to build long-term relationships with patients and their families and to bring fun and recreation into the hospital environment as much as possible.”

Laura first met the Spread a Smile team in 2013, soon after the charity was founded. Laura says, “I instantly saw the incredible benefits for the patients and families I was  working with in radiotherapy. They helped me out so much by bringing entertainers and therapy dogs to visit children and young people during our busy clinic days, where patients can be waiting for very long periods of time and my colleague and I would be very busy working with new patients. Many of my patients and their families also got to benefit from the amazing VIP days out. It was such a treat to be able to offer these experiences to patients as it gave them a real lift, and, as the whole family was included, it allowed them to spend quality time together, which was essential during such a difficult time.

“It has been such a privilege to have worked so closely with Spread a Smile since the beginning and it seemed like the perfect fit to join the team when the opportunity arose. It’s a real honour to be given this exciting opportunity. Everyone at Spread a Smile is extremely passionate and dedicated to improving the experience for children and young people facing illness and hospitalisation, and this is evident in everything the charity does. Spread a Smile values professionalism, but still manages to keep that personal touch for parents, families and hospital staff, which is so important, especially as the charity grows and develops. I’ll be leading on service delivery within the NHS. I’ll be looking at how we currently deliver our service and how we can expand and improve in our existing hospitals, as well as help to expand into new hospitals so we can support even more children, young people and families within the greater London area. I’ll also be helping to implement new projects and initiatives and be a part of a research study that will be conducted to measure the impact we’re having on our service users.

“I’m currently working on building relationships with additional London hospitals with a view to sending our entertainers there in the future. I’d also like to develop a bespoke individual referrals pathway to support patients and families who could benefit from one-on-one visits in hospital. For example, patients receiving palliative care or patients who have been in hospital for long periods of time and really need a pick-me-up! Although we already do a little bit of this, I would really like to increase this service as I’ve seen first-hand the benefits this can have for patients.”