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On Wednesday 13th June, Spread a Smile had the pleasure of taking well known TV personality and actress Mel Giedroyc to University College Hospital for a very special visit. Mel is best known for co-hosting a series of well known TV shows, with her fantastic friend Sue Perkins, most famously The Great British Bake Off and more recently The Generation Game, and Mel has recently appeared on stage performing in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, having received rave reviews.

Mel first heard about Spread a Smile’s work when she presented the Children in Need appeal show on the BBC back in November 2017. We are lucky enough to receive funding from Children in Need and they made a film about our work for the appeal show, featuring the gorgeous and inspirational Vanessa Moss.

From the moment Mel arrived at UCLH yesterday, nurses, doctors, play specialists, parents and patients warmed to her straight away. Spread a Smile co-founder, Vanessa Crocker, who joined the visit said “Mel has a lovely sunny disposition and it was wonderful to see her sharing a laugh and a joke with patients and spreading smiles wherever she went. Everyone was keen to spend time and have photos taken with Mel, and she was so generous to give so much of her time to Spread a Smile, to which we are so incredibly grateful.”

Spread a Smile magician, Nick Einhorn, impressed Mel on the day with his magic. Nick, who has been part of the Spread a Smile team for a number of years, produced a red handkerchief out of one boys’ bed covers before proceeding to release Mel’s wedding ring from her finger, place it onto some string and then move it straight onto his own finger! Luckily she got it back when the trick was finished! Spontaneous poet, Judge, was also at UCLH for the visit and even made up an on the spot poem for Mel.

My name is Ruth and I am a 26 years old Rainbow Fairy!! I originally trained in Contemporary Dance, and then went on to study an MA in Dance Movement Psychotherapy. I have a passion for child development and the therapeutic benefits of moving and dancing, so in running a children’s entertainment company, I have managed to incorporate all of my passions in one! ‘The Giggle Company’ is celebrating it’s 10 year anniversary this year!

Coming from such a big family, and being the second youngest of 5, I never thought we would all end up living so close to one another. We are all based in West London and it is wonderful! I feel incredibly lucky to have such a large, loving and supportive family – they are everything to me.

My younger sister, Grace is severely special needs and is the glue in my family. Although she is unable to walk and talk, she has this incredible ability to communicate through her eyes as well as being very cheeky and intuitive. I have many memories of ‘debates’ around the dinner table as a teenager, and as soon as it becoming ‘tense’, Grace bursting into uncontrollable laughter. Before we knew it, we were all smiling and laughing along with her and had forgotten what we were even debating about to begin with – she puts life into perspective for us all, and definitely taught me the power of spreading smiles…

​So y​ou can imagine then, that when Spread a Smile got in touch, it felt like a sign! All these years developing tools working with special needs children, and sharing happiness through entertaining kids can now finally be used to help others – what an honour!

I had my first visit in February 2018, and I don’t think I have ever felt nerves like it. They say anxiety and excitement are the same emotional process, and often it is hard to tell the difference… Well I felt so anxious, yet so excited all in one that I thought I may burst!

​However, a​s soon as I arrived at University College Hospital, and met my first young boy in his bed, time stopped and I was just there, with him, together engaged in the moment and enjoying one another’s company. In a world where we always worry about ‘tomorrow’, this was such a special gift; to spend a few hours being nothing but present, and sharing smiles and giggles with beautiful & brave children – it definitely exceeded all my expectations!

I have to say though, dressed as a rainbow fairy, and covered in glitter, I was concerned the first boy I visited was​n’t going to be interested… I remember looking in my bag at all the ‘girly’ pink glitter I had brought with me and thinking “I’m going to really need to think on my feet here!” Instantly I noticed his Spiderman socks and Avengers stickers on his Ipad (that he was glued to) and luckily, superhero’s are my thing! We started talking about superheros, and before I knew it, we ​were ​testing to see​ who was the strongest and giggling as he beat me nearly every time! Hearing him giggle and seeing him moving around on his bed, when before
​he was​ just lying there, eyes fixed only centermetres from his Ipad screen, I felt so happy! I got him up, moving, giggling and on top of that, I was giggling too!!

After that, every child I visited felt ​so familiar – the ice was broken. I realised that by simply being present, and engaging with the child’s mood and energy in that very moment was enough! From singing along to Beyoncé to covering smiley cheeks in jewels, I didn’t stop smiling throughout ​the visit and left with my cheeks ​actually ​aching​!​

I have to say, the best thing about Spread a Smile is the unconditional amount of compassion within the team. Every element is considered with passion and care and it feels so special to be part of something so magical!

When asked what really makes me smile, honestly it would have to be engaging with others. I adore making new connections and learning about people’s stories in life – smiling at strangers on the tube, or talking to the lady behind the counter – moments like that are what make my soul happy! Well, that as well as chocolate and coffee of course! 🙂

​I really can’t wait for my next visit to continue meeting the lovely staff, and wonderful children.

In celebration of our 5^th birthday on 11^th April, we are launching the 5 for 5 initiative and asking our friends to take part in fun challenges throughout April and beyond.  Here are a few ideas to set you off:

Run or walk 5 miles or more. You can set up a fundraising page using BT MyDonate. If you are feeling very adventurous we also have places available in the Royal Parks Half Marathon and Prudential Ride London 100.

During April, in honour of our birthday, nominate 5 friends via Facebook or Twitter to donate £5 to our birthday appeal page. 

Our friends at Lawsons are holding a coffee and cake morning. On Tuesday 10 April, they will serve coffee and cake at all their stores in return for a £5 donation to Spread a Smile. Maybe your company could support us in a similar way?

Give something up for 5 days – screens, chocolate, coffee??!! – and ask your friends to sponsor you or donate directly to our birthday appeal page. You can download our sponsorship form here. 

During our birthday week, we will be visiting all four hospitals we work in, bringing the party and plenty of smiles to lots of extra special young people. We would like to thank all our partners and supporters who have made this possible so far including Pan-n-Ice, Kier, Lawsons, Mad Science, Pop Fusion and Lola’s Cupcakes.

We now make a minimum of 19 hospital visits per month, seeing over 400 patients monthly. Soon we will start to visit the Evelina London Hospital in Westminster, increasing our reach even further. Our VIP trips to theatres and concerts, which we now offer on a monthly basis, are hugely popular with our families, helping them to make positive memories. By taking on a challenge for our 5^th birthday, you can help us continue to provide this vital service to seriously and terminally ill children and help us create some smiles, laughter and light relief at a time when these families need it the most.

Please consider encouraging your company to support Spread a Smile and take up the 5 for 5 challenge. To give you a bit of inspiration, as well as the coffee morning, five of our good friends at Lawsons are taking part in a sponsored wing walk.

For more info or to chat to us about your ideas for 5 for 5, please email info@spreadasmile.org or call us on 020 7482 5191. You can donate directly to our birthday appeal page or download a sponsorship form here.

If you would like to support #5for5 on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram please copy and paste this message and don’t forget to nominate 5 friends to donate to us:

I have just donated £5 to @SpreadaSmileUK, the hospital entertainment charity, to celebrate their 5^th birthday. The charity sends entertainers into 4 leading London hospitals to brighten the days of seriously and terminally ill children and teenagers. I nominate 5 friends (LIST FRIENDS HERE) and I’m asking you to donate £5 to Spread a Smile here.

On Facebook it is easy to set up and fundraise for us for our 5th Birthday on your page. Please follow the instructions below on how to do it.

On your computer:

In the top right corner of your Facebook page on your computer there is an arrow. 

Click to open it and go down to create fundraiser.

Click on Get Started and it will ask you who you are raising money for. Choose charity and search for Spread a Smile.

You can edit the wording and make your own fundraising page.

On your phone:

In the bottom right corner of the Facebook app there are 3 lines, click on them and go down to Fundraisers.

Click on it and it will ask you who you are raising money for. Choose charity and search for Spread a Smile.

You can edit the wording and make your own fundraising page.

We have places available in two challenge events this year and would love for you to join team Spread a Smile. You may want to cycle the Prudential Ride London on 29 July or run the Royal Parks Half Marathon on 14 October.

Prudential Ride London 100 Calling all cyclists. Come and be a part of Britain’s biggest celebration of cycling in the Prudential Ride London 100 on Sunday 29th July 2018, but hurry as places are going in a flash, no doubt as quickly as your wheels could be turning for this race!

The challenging yet ever so historic 100 mile route starts at The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, takes you through London into Surrey and ends ever so majestically on The Mall, in Central London. Many of the roads on the route will be closed to traffic for this very special occasion.

Sign up now for a guaranteed place with Spread a Smile. The registration fee is £30 and the minimum sponsorship you need to raise is £500 (excluding Gift Aid).

Once you sign up, we will send you a personalised running vest or cycling jersey, we offer fantastic support on the day and plenty of advice on putting the fun in fundraising and details of how to set up your fundraising page.

Royal Parks Half Marathon For those of you out there who may not have organised entering an official Marathon or even Half Marathon quite yet this year, fear not! We have spaces remaining in the Royal Parks Half Marathon on Sunday 14th October 2018. We would love to have you as part of our Spread a Smile team.

This amazing 13.1 mile course starts and ends at Hyde Park, taking you through four Royal Parks, past The Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace.

The registration fee is £30 and the minimum sponsorship is £370 (excluding Gift Aid). Sign up now.

Once you sign up, we will send you a personalised running vest or cycling jersey, we offer fantastic support on the day and plenty of advice on putting the fun in fundraising and details of how to set up your fundraising page.

For more information on either of these events, please email events@spreadasmile.org or phone us on 0207 482 5191.

From April 2018, our teams of entertainers will start visiting the Evelina London Children’s Hospital, located next to St Thomas’ Hospital, on Westminster Bridge, bringing the total number of hospitals we now work into 5. Recently we also increased our visits at Great Ormond Street Hospital, going from 2 to 4 visits per month.

The Evelina treats children with all kinds of health conditions. It is the UK’s leading hospital for paediatric heart services as well as a specialist in kidney transplants and dialysis, cleft lip surgery, metabolic conditions, allergy and neurology. The hospital treats 50,000 children each year of all ages; from babies in the womb, through to young adulthood.

We will start by taking one group of entertainers per month, taking our total number of monthly visits across all 5 hospitals to 20, and we hope to be able to increase this in the not too distant future.

Lucy Jackson, CEO, said “It’s wonderful to be able to add a new hospital to our current offering. This gives us the opportunity to see even more children and teenagers who are seriously ill. We are very excited to bring our wonderful teams of entertainers, consisting of magicians, fairies, singers and face-painters to The Evelina to spread even more smiles.”

Recently we increased our monthly visits at Great Ormond Street Hospital from two to four a month. We now take 28 entertainers per month across three visits. Talia, who visits with Cassie the therapy dog, recently underwent advanced training so she now visits GOSH monthly too with Cassie, a six year old Cavapoo.

Talia said: “Visiting Great Ormond Street Hospital with Cassie has been one of the most amazing experiences for me. These young people that we visit are by far some of the bravest people I have met and inspire me each time we go to GOSH. My favourite part of going into the hospital is seeing children that have met Cassie before, watching their faces light up as they catch a glimpse of her and hear them shout out, ‘Cassie’ as if it’s their best friend. It’s such a simple thing that we do, yet it has the most profound reaction – I feel so lucky to watch it happen.”

Jamie Wilcox, Head of Volunteer Services at Great Ormond Street Hospital, said: “We think your Spread a Smile team are incredible. We couldn’t do without you. The patients and families rely on the expertise and professionalism of your entertainers and experienced team. We only wish you could visit GOSH more often than four days a month. The difference you make to the patients and families you visit is outstanding. Thank you Spread a Smile for making such a difference.”

The hugely talented Marina Constantinou, Spread a Smile’s resident face-painter, artist and finance manager, has recently added to her repertoire to help take the fear out of radiotherapy for young cancer patients in London, by hand painting their radiotherapy masks.

It is compulsory for patients undergoing radiotherapy, to wear mesh, harsh-looking masks which cover the child’s entire face and can also stretch all the way over their shoulders too. Once the patient is lying on the radiotherapy bed itself, the masks are then fastened to the bed to hold the patient in place. This can be a terrifying and traumatic experience for any person, let alone a child. So, artist Marina offered to personalise each mask for every child requiring treatment, thereby helping to remove an element of fear and spark an element of interest and fun at a time when everything is so daunting and terribly scary.

Having worked closely with Laura Walters, a Play Specialist at University College London Hospital, Marina inquired as to the type of paints and technicalities appropriate for the masks and for the treatment itself, and discovered that water based acrylic paints worked best and were in no way detrimental to the patients or the effectiveness of the treatment. Having had every aspect approved and checked by UCLH, Marina excitedly set to work creating the most magnificent designs. Marina now regularly pops along to UCLH to design masks to a child’s specific requirements.

From Sylvanian Squirrels, to Spiderman, Minions, Manchester City, Yoda and Unicats, the list of designs so far has been very varied. Marina aims to speak directly to the young patients and their parents in advance of their treatment, so that each request is taken into account and noted before she sets to work. Some children have even asked for their names and start dates of treatment to be painted onto the masks too.

Marina said “My intention is to make the masks truly personalised and turn them from looking cold, terrifying and austere, to almost looking like a piece of fun dressing up attire. From the feedback I’ve had so far, I know some of the children have accepted their treatment more readily and have not been so fearful of wearing their mask.”

Currently we offer this service at UCLH.

We are delighted to be able to reveal our new logo to you, just in time for our 5^th birthday.

Five years since we launched, we decided it was time for a refresh and update of our logo. We will launch it officially on 9 April, as we start a week of birthday celebrations at Great Ormond Street Hospital, University College Hospital, St Mary’s Hospital and the Royal London Hospital, but we wanted to share it with you first.

Lucy Jackson, Spread a Smile CEO said; “We were all agreed that an update to our logo was needed and we very much wanted it to be an evolutionary process. Our existing logo is well recognised in the hospitals by children, parents and staff alike so it’s important that we retained some of the original features in the new design. We have done this by keeping with the blue and pink and the ‘stick people’, who still feature prominently. We are sure that our new logo, with it’s colourful and friendly design, will be as popular in the hospitals as the old one and will carry us very well into the future.”

We would like to say a huge thank you to Rhiannon Williams, Katie McCormick and Melissa Gleed, part of the design team at BlackRock, who have designed our new stationery and marketing materials completely free of charge. We would also like to thank the very talented James Daniel, a Cardiff based copywriter who is undertaking copywriting for us on a pro bono basis. Throughout this process, we have been lucky enough to call on their support, advice and expertise.

If you would like to receive our new logo to display on your website etc., please email simone@spreadasmile.org.