News

At a time when accessing digital services couldn’t be more important, we are delighted to be working with the Good Things Foundation and BBC Children in Need on the Everyone Connected project – an initiative that aims to tackle digital exclusion and increase digital access to disadvantaged families throughout the UK.

Spread a Smile was allocated 50 tablets (each with six months free wifi access) which we have given to families of seriously ill and hospitalised children who did not have their own devices.  Our involvement with the project and its impact were recently highlighted by Children in Need.

All tablets have now been allocated to families with thanks to our NHS Hospital Partners.

Please Click HERE to watch Lucy Jackson’s interview regarding the Everyone Connected initiative

For further details on how Children in Need is tackling ditial exclusion please Click Here

On Sunday 11 April, Spread a Smile marked our 8th birthday and we wanted to make everyone smile.

The activities began with cake decorating workshops run by our friends from Lola’s Cupcakes. The workshops were offered to children and teenagers spending long periods of time isolating in hospital at both GOSH and UCLH. They helped to ease the boredom and monotony that children experience during long hospital stays. The workshops were also a much-needed opportunity for patients to socialise together virtually.

We also delivered a zoo-ful of Walking Pet Balloons to seriously ill children and teenagers in our NHS partner hospitals. We’re delighted to see the gorgeous smiles that these animals have spread.

Tina Halton, Play Service Lead at St Mary’s Hospital, said, “We were thrilled with the delivery of walking pet balloons. It’s been a long and challenging winter and this has brightened up the hospital environment for our young patients. These balloons provide a much needed distraction from difficult hospital admissions and treatment and have helped to decrease anxiety and make the overall hospital experience more positive.”

How do you unite colleagues working in London and New York?  You make them walk/run the distance in between, all 3,459 miles!

We are thrilled to be working with the team at specialist recruitment company, TritonExec on their #TEmilesintosmiles challenge this April with an ambitious target of £10,000.

Ben Graham, Partner at TritonExec said, “We are honoured that Spread a Smile is our affiliated charity. The work they do is so inspiring and means so much to many seriously ill children and their families. Like TritonExec, Spread a Smile is boutique – meaning it may not be as well known as other larger charities and we want to do all we can to help promote their incredible dedication so more people are aware of how amazing they are as well as do everything in our power to raise as much money for them as possible.”

A big thank you to their teams on both sides of the Atlantic for not only taking on such a colossal challenge but also for nominated us as their charity partner of the year.

We look forward to working with such an energic and positive team.

To read more about TritonExec’s fundraising challenge please CLICK HERE

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.