Smile Blog

It’s a Spread a Smile Christmas

 1024 512 Susie
By:

Christmas is always a busy time for Spread a Smile because it is often a very difficult time of year for the families we support. So we make it our mission to do all that we can to spread smiles and share the excitement and joy of the season with those who may be struggling.

This year, Spread a Smile has reached more families than ever before through our festive initiatives, thanks to the wonderful support of our supporters, volunteers, donors, corporate partners and many other organisations who have helped make everything possible. Here’s a roundup of what we’ve been up to and how we’ve been spreading smiles this Christmas.

More Smile Hampers than ever before
This year we’ve sent out 1,874 personalised Smile Hampers to seriously ill children and their siblings in time for Christmas. This involved 560 volunteers joining us over 6 weeks, giving up over 115 hours of support in total to hand-pick thousands of gifts for the Smile Hampers.

“I wanted to express my heartfelt gratitude for the amazing festive hampers we received for our three boys.
They absolutely loved them and we could truly feel the dedication and hard work that went into creating them.
As a mother of terminally ill children, the joy and smiles you brought to our family extends beyond the kids.
It has touched us as parents too. Your kindness and generosity have made a lasting impact on our family,
and we deeply appreciate it.” Parent

Supporting our hospital and hospice partners
During December we will have carried out 69 in-person visits to our NHS hospital and hospice partners, helping to spread some festive cheer. This includes;

  • Visits by Father Christmas and the Spread a Smile elves to 15 of our NHS Hospital partners, giving the opportunity for children spending time in hospital to meet Santa and receive a gift;
  • Visits to Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) on Christmas Day and St Mary’s Hospital on Boxing Day, generously funded by our friends at Downing;
  • Support for Christmas Parties at 8 NHS hospital and three hospice partners (Newham Hospital, West Middlesex Hospital, The Royal London Hospital, University College Hospital, Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Barnet Hospital, St George’s Hospital, Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice, Helen & Douglas House and Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care).

A special virtual grotto for those unable to meet Santa in person
Our virtual Christmas Grotto gave children who wouldn’t otherwise have a chance to meet Father Christmas in-person to have a personalised online meet up with the big man himself. We expect 200 children to visit our grotto, and we also organised hospital sessions for children on isolated wards at GOSH and also for children at Leicester Hospital, Southampton General Hospital, Wrexham Hospital and John Radcliffe Hospital.

Beautiful festive murals in NHS hospitals
Our Head of Art Marina visited King’s College Hospital, GOSH and St Mary’s Hospital to hand-paint some beautiful Winter and Christmas murals across the wards, helping to brighten up the clinical spaces and spread some festive cheer for the families and staff there. They are always so well received with Marina saying, “Going into hospital in the lead up to Christmas is always one of my favourite things to do. It’s lovely to see the children’s faces as they see the artworks coming together. Often, they tell me what they would like to see or want to chat about what I’m doing. It is a great distraction, and it brings out so many smiles – from the children and also parents and staff too. It’s nice to know we’re helping to spread so many smiles in the hospital environment.”

We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported us this festive season, helping to make all of this possible including:

  • those who have provided financial support;
  • individuals who bought gifts from our Amazon Wish List and companies who donated larger volumes of gifts for our Smile Hampers;
  • all of our volunteers who gave up their time to help pick and pack our hampers and DPD for making sure they all arrived safely.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

We’d love to hear from you if you or your company would like to support us in 2025. Please email us at fundraising@spreadasmile.org to get involved. Thank you.

New partnership with Bain Capital spreads smiles

 780 400 Susie
By:

Spread a Smile is delighted to announce a new partnership with Bain Capital which will see the private investment firm support the charity through a range of exciting initiatives.

To kick off the partnership, Bain Capital staff joined the Spread a Smile team to help pack 1,874 Smile Hampers being sent to seriously ill children and their siblings in time for Christmas. The willing volunteers hand-picked gifts with each recipient in mind. It was a brilliant opportunity to introduce the Spread a Smile’s work in more depth, with the Bain Capital team taking an active role supporting our families during one of the most difficult times of their year.

Alongside engaging in various volunteering opportunities, Bain Capital will fund 44 in-person hospital visits by Spread a Smile’s talented entertainers, enabling us to carry out bedside visits to 660 seriously ill children at St Mary’s Hospital, London. These visits will make a huge difference to the children and young people we support, providing moments of distraction and laughter in amongst the pain and worry of illness and treatment plans.

Spread a Smile Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson said, “We’re delighted and grateful to be working with Bain Capital to bring joy and happiness to seriously ill children in hospital. Everyone at Spread a Smile is looking forward to getting to know the team and spreading even more smiles together.”

A huge thank you to everyone at Bain Capital for joining the Spread a Smile family.

The Wandering Barber’s rickshaw challenge

 780 400 Susie
By:

At the end of November, David Jamali aka ‘The Wandering Barber’ took on an incredible fundraising challenge for Spread a Smile and HoH Charitable Trust (Hand on Heart), travelling 3000km across India in a rickshaw.

David raised over £4,000 in the process saying, “This journey is not just about the adventure; it’s about making a difference. I am raising funds for two remarkable charities which are close to my heart, and I have had the privilege of supporting them through my work as a barber.

“Spread a Smile do incredible work bringing joy and laughter to seriously ill children and their families during some of their darkest times. They organise visits from entertainers, therapy dogs, and even magicians to hospitals and hospices, creating precious moments of happiness. I have had the honour of cutting hair for terminally ill children, witnessing firsthand the positive impact of Spread a Smile’s efforts.”

As a charity that relies on the generosity of individuals and organisations to carry out its work spreading smiles to seriously ill children and young people, everyone at Spread a Smile is extremely grateful to David for his efforts and support.

Lucy Jackson, Spread a Smile’s Chief Executive said, “David really has gone that extra mile through his fundraising efforts, taking on a brilliant and inspiring challenge. We can’t thank him enough for his support.”

If you would like to find out more about taking on a fundraising challenge for Spread a Smile, please email the team at fundraising@spreadasmile.org or visit our fundraising pages here.

Welcome to Kuljeet de Souza

 780 400 Susie
By:

We are delighted to welcome Kuljeet de Souza, the newest member of the Spread a Smile family.

Kuljeet joins us from Grief Encounter as our Trusts and Foundations Manager, helping to drive and nurture support in this important area of fundraising.

Kuljeet said, “I have worked in the charity sector for 20 years in a variety of organisations and roles including YouthNet, The Children’s Society and most recently, as Trusts and Grants Manager for Grief Encounter.

“I have always been passionate about working for charities that support children and young people, so I was delighted when the role of Trusts and Foundations Manager came up at Spread a Smile. I’m looking forward to developing new and existing relationships and helping to raise much needed funds to ensure the charity can continue to deliver our vital services to those most in need.

“I’m excited to join an organisation that makes such a big difference to the lives of children and families. The team has been so welcoming and is 100% committed to the work they do, and that’s reflected in the wonderful impact the charity has.”

Lucy Jackson, Spread a Smile Chief Executive said, “Support from Trusts and Foundations is key to Spread a Smile as we develop and grow to meet our long-term strategic aims and objectives. We’re delighted to welcome Kuljeet to the team. I’m very much looking forward to working with her to continue building a meaningful and impactful fundraising programme in Trusts and Foundations.”

Festive art at GOSH

 780 400 Susie
By:

In the lead up to Christmas, Spread a Smile’s Head of Art, Marina, is invited into Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) to help brighten up the wards by painting festive murals on the ward windows and corridors.

Christmas can be an extremely difficult time of year for young patients receiving treatment in hospital, meaning time spent away from family and friends, not able to do the festive things that other children do at this time of year.

Marina works closely with the hospital and play teams to bring a little bit of Christmas cheer to the clinical setting, hand painting characters and messages to help bring the spirit of Christmas onto the wards.

Marina spent three days painting across wards in GOSH saying, “Going into GOSH in the lead up to Christmas is always one of my favourite things to do. It’s lovely to see the children’s faces as they see the artworks coming together. Often, they tell me what they would like to see or want to chat about what I’m doing. It is a great distraction, and it bring out so many smiles – from the children and also parents and staff too. It’s nice to know we’re helping to spread so many smiles in the hospital environment.”

Spread a Smile’s Director of Services, Laura Walter added, “We are so proud to support our NHS hospital partners in this way. Christmas should be full of wonder and beauty for every child and at Spread a Smile we want to do everything we can to help bring some of that to children and families who will be in hospital and away from home during the festive period.”

Alongside our art initiatives, Spread a Smile is also spreading joy through our Smile Hampers initiative. In 2024, we’re sending out 1,750 of our amazing gift boxes to seriously ill children and their siblings in time for Christmas. Each Smile Hamper is packed full of gifts, hand-picked with each child in mind, bringing so much happiness to everyone who receives them.

“Thank you so much for these amazing hampers! We got home today from GOSH after a surgery, so to come home to this when she wasn’t feeling brilliant, has made her day. She is over the moon and to include her sister is just so lovely” Parent

Please donate to support our Christmas activities and help spread a little Spread a Smile love. Thank you.

Ari and George’s films win prestigious award

 780 400 Susie
By:

We’re winners! Last night Spread a Smile and film maker Jules’ Creative Content won the award ‘Film: Best Use of a Smaller Budget category’ at the 2024 EVCOM London Film Awards.

The prestigious annual awards are run by EVCOM (Event and Visual Communication Association) and recognise excellence in both craft and communications, celebrating the best creative work in film.

Spread a Smile’s win is for two incredible films – George’s Story and Ari’s Story – created for us by Jules Sander. They follow the stories of George and his family and Ari and her family, from diagnosis through to treatment and meeting Spread a Smile.

Spread a Smile’s Co-Founders Josephine Segal and Vanessa Crocker, along with Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson attended the awards at a glittering ceremony at Plaisterers’ Hall, London on Thursday 28 November with Lucy saying, “Being able to share, via film, the difference our work makes to the children and families we support means a huge amount to us, and we can’t thank the Anstey and Radcliffe families enough for allowing us to tell their stories. A huge thank you to Jules (Jules’ Creative Content) for bringing such creativity, understanding and passion to the table when producing the films. Thank you to EVCOM for shortlisting us and thereby helping to raise awareness about Spread a Smile and our work bringing a little bit of joy and happiness when it’s most needed. It really is an honour to see our wonderful films recognised in this way and we are proud to be the recipient of this prestigious award.”

Please take a moment to watch George’s Story (below) and Ari’s Story on our YouTube channel. Please share far and wide and if you are able to make a donation to help ensure we can continue to be there for families like these during the darkest of days, we would be extremely grateful, thank you.

Help spread joy and love this festive season

 1024 559 Susie
By:

This festive season we want to spread even more smiles than ever before through our festive Smile Hampers and to do that we need your help.

We’ve set ourselves the huge task of sending out 1,750 Smile Hampers, packed full of gifts, hand-picked with each child in mind, and to be delivered to seriously ill children and their siblings in time for Christmas.

Just £38 will help fund two Smile Hampers, bringing so much joy during what can be an extremely difficult time for the families we support

“Christmas wouldn’t happen without you guys. Thank you so much for everything you do for us.”
Parent

When a child is seriously ill, day-to-day life is often taken over by sickness, treatment plans and hospital stays, spending time away from family and friends. The magic and wonder of the festive season can easily be lost.

Please give what you can to help fund our Smile Hampers so we can spread as much joy and happiness to the families we support during the most difficult time of their lives.

Thank you so much for your support.

Kisharon Langdon support for Mitzvah Day

 780 400 Susie
By:

Mitzvah Day is a day of faith-based social action in November, when communities and individuals undertake a range of volunteering projects to help others.

This year, Kisharon Langdon, a charity which supports people within the Jewish learning disability and autism community, came together to help Spread a Smile bring a little joy and happiness to seriously ill children and young people.

On 24 November, their youth group which supports young people with learning disabilities, met with adults also supported by the charity at their centre in Edgware, to wrap and pack donated gifts to be included in our Smile Hampers.

The group learnt about the importance of inclusion and reaching out to others and met Spread a Smile Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson and Co-Founder, Josephine Segal who spoke about the work we do and the difference the group are helping to make to the families we support.

Lucy said, “Mitzvah Day is a very special day in the Jewish calendar and one which sees people spending time together to do something good for others. We were delighted to receive support from Kisharon Langdon and so grateful for all their efforts to help us spread smiles to children spending time in hospital, managing treatment plans and illness. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”

To find out more about supporting Spread a Smile, please email fundraising@spreadasmile.org

 

2nd Padel Tournament for Spread a Smile

 780 400 Susie
By:

On Thursday 21 November, we were joined by 12 brilliant teams for our 2nd Padel Tournament of 2024, generously sponsored by our friends at Engage FS. And what an amazing day it was!

It was brilliant to be back at Stratford Padel Club and once again competition levels were high, with teams from Sidekick Management taking first and second place and HCFX coming in third.

Take a look at our photo gallery from the day.

Padel is a mix between tennis and squash and usually played in doubles on an enclosed court one third the size of a tennis court. The sport is known for combining action with fun and social interaction, it’s easy to pick up and suitable for players of all ages and skills to join in together.

We are so grateful to all of our teams (with a special shout out to BC Partners), for joining us and helping to raise vital funds to support seriously ill children, young people and their families. Also, to Stratford Padel Club, for making us so welcome and helping to ensure the day run smoothly.

Please get in touch to find out about joining us for next year’s event, or why not check out some of our other events here.

Hello World

 1024 683 Jodi Montlake
By:

I’m so excited to be sharing with you the first-ever “Smile blog”. I joined the charity in July 2021 as Digital Engagement Manager (my dream job) for this most inspirational charity. And I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to create content that has a positive impact. That is what matters to me, especially when it comes to helping seriously ill children. I’m really looking forward to sharing more news of our work, the impact our services make to the children and their families and I can’t wait to host some guest interviews with some truly wonderful individuals and businesses who make our work possible.

If you would like to write a guest blog for Spread a Smile contact Jodi on info@spreadasmile.org

A note about the author, Jodi Montlake:

What drew me to work for Spread a Smile?

I officially left my 20 years plus freelancing career journey when I started at Spread a Smile. To find the right company, I needed to find somewhere special that would bring happiness and joyful experiences to young people in difficult times and I truly believe that Spread a Smile is just that. 

The most recent years of my career were spent working with some amazing startups, small and medium-sized businesses managing their social media, blogging and digital marketing efforts. I’ve also taught Pilates for many years too. Some would say I wear many hats but I think that’s what keeps my content creative and different. My favourite things about both lines of work are the people. I’m a real people person and I get energy from the people I meet, the inspirational stories I read or hear and the people I can help. Accepting the offer from Spread a Smile was a no brainer as at the very heart of what the company do, from its early beginnings with Josephine Segal and Vanessa Crocker and still today is making a positive impact on children and their families. 

I’m a mother to two children aged 12 and 10, a wife (married nearly 20 years, how did that happen)?, daughter, friend, dog owner (I have two wonderful Australian Labradoodles, definitely the easiest of my children). I was once a self-proclaimed ‘technophobe’ and now an avid adopter of innovative and digital services remains much amusement to my husband and kids.

And all this “normal life stuff” during covid-19 made me reevaluate what I wanted from life. Working for a charity gives me purpose and something to be proud of. Knowing that what I do is in some way contributing to the big picture of spreading more smiles to seriously ill children and teenagers who are in hospital gives me meaning.  I hope to make my love of digital contagious to all the team and help Spread a Smile reach its national ambitions to grow and support more users of its services. 💥

To receive the Smile blog in your inbox every week contact us on info@spreadasmile.org and title it “blog”.