Posts Tagged :

afternoon tea

Easter tea party at Corinthia London

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To kick off the Easter holidays, 18 families joined us at the beautiful Corinthia London for a delicious Easter themed afternoon tea.

Upon arrival, the families were greeted with glittery welcome drinks in Spread a Smile colours before being shown to their tables to enjoy a tasty afternoon tea with sandwiches, scones, cakes, hot chocolates and more.

In true Spread a Smile style there was entertainment from some of our magicians, singers and fairies, along with lots of Easter crafts and a scavenger hunt with the end prize of a personalised apron for each child to take home.

We are extremely grateful to our friends at Corinthia London for hosting us so beautifully and treating our guests like royalty. As one family told us,

“The afternoon tea was absolutely delicious and on another level. Thank you always so, so much for thinking of everything and being so kind to us all. We honestly had a fabulous time, and it was such a special treat to be able to take the kids (and us) to somewhere so luxurious. Thank you as always for the amazing magic, face painting and singing. Jacob and Kaitlin were in hysterics at the magician, and it was so funny to watch.” Love the Youens family.

Our family events and outings support young patients, their parents, carers and siblings and bring moments of respite, joyful experiences and enduring memories at the most challenging of times.

To find out more about our work and how you can get involved, please click here.

Families enjoy afternoon tea at Corinthia London

 780 400 Susie
By:

As part of our ongoing partnership with Corinthia London, two of the families we support were invited to experience the hotel’s new flower themed afternoon tea in collaboration with FLOWERBX.

“I do not have the words to say how grateful we are and how amazing today has been. I am so close to tears holding them back.”

Our guests enjoyed a wonderfully relaxed afternoon, taking time out together away from the pressures and worries of hospital appointments and treatment plans. There was also time to sit underneath the beautiful flower tree created in the foyer of the hotel by FLOWERBX to celebrate the approach of Summer and the Chelsea Flower Show.

“Thank you so, so much for today. There are no words to express our gratitude and Elsa said it was the best day. You are all such wonderful selfless people and without you all our days would be so much harder. The smile you bring to Elsa’s face with your generosity is just amazing. The staff at the Corinthia were wonderful, they could not have done more for us.” Elsa’s Mum

We are so grateful to everyone at Corinthia London for providing this wonderful opportunity for our families and making everyone so welcome. Also for collecting for Spread a Smile this month and generously donating £10 from every Afternoon Tea to Spread a Smile until 29 May.

You can read more about this wonderful initiative here.

Mildreds May afternoon tea treat

 780 400 Susie
By:

Last week, our friends from Mildreds Restaurants welcomed Spread a Smile and some of the amazing families we support for another wonderful afternoon tea.

Six families joined us at Mildreds in Covent Garden, London, enjoying a delicious vegan spread and entertainment from Mr Magic and face painting by Marina, our Head of Art. Spread a Smile Co-Founder Josephine Segal also joined in the fun along with her therapy dog, Buddy.

We are extremely grateful to everyone at Mildreds Restaurants for their ongoing support through their monthly tea parties, alongside other incredible initiatives. They provide a wonderful opportunity for seriously ill children to enjoy an afternoon out with their families and forget about the worries of illness and hospitals for a while. Outings like this are a welcome chance for respite and fun.

Sam Anstey, Managing Director at Mildreds said, ‘We are proud to be working with such a special charity. Spread a Smile do amazing work and all our teams are so pleased to be able to support them. It has been great to be involved and to experience the impact that Spread a Smile have in helping others.’

Please consider making a donation to help ensure Spread a Smile can continue to provide outings such as these, spreading joy and happiness when it’s needed most. Thank you.

FLOWERBX afternoon tea at Corinthia London

 780 400 Susie
By:

Spread a Smile is delighted to be the beneficiary charity of an exciting collaboration between FLOWERBX and our partners, Corinthia London.

Whitney Bromberg Hawkings, founder and CEO of FLOWERBX, and Corinthia London’s executive pastry chef Yago Doamo have paired their creative skills and devised a selection of strikingly beautiful desserts which will mark the Chelsea Flower Show and celebrate the approach of Summer.

The distinctive and delicious desserts have been inspired by Whitney and the stunning flower range at the FLOWERBX in-house shop at Corinthia London. They combine individual, visually impactful floral motifs with seasonal spring-into-summer ingredients, such as strawberries and blueberries, lavender and lemon, chocolate and salted caramel.

Alongside a selection of finger sandwiches, tea blends and other treats, the desserts will form part of the afternoon tea service at Corinthia London in the Crystal Moon Lounge from 2 May-29 May 2024, with £10 from every tea being donated to Spread a Smile.

To further mark the season’s floral theme at Corinthia London, FLOWERBX have created dazzling large paper flowers to adorn the Crystal Moon Lounge and the Foyer of the hotel. This impressive floral installation will feature delicate colourful paper flowers, and there will also be a large floral tree in the Foyer adorned with the striking individual flowers which can be purchased to take away, with the proceeds donated to the Spread a Smile.

Lucy Jackson, Chief Executive of Spread a Smile, said “We are so grateful to our friends at Corinthia London and FLOWERBX for their incredible support. We are honoured to be part of this amazing collaboration. We would like to say thank you to everyone involved for creating and supporting this wonderful initiative which will help us spread even more smiles to seriously ill children and their families.”

To find out more about afternoon tea at the Corinthia London please visit their website here.

New year family events

 780 400 Susie
By:

It’s been a busy start to the year, with some incredible family events and outings for some of the children, young people and families we support.

We once again returned to Underground Cookery School in partnership with cancer support charity Teens Unite Fighting Cancer, inviting young people affected by serious illness to learn how to cook a delicious 2-course meal from scratch. As always, it was a fun day, filled with much laughter, providing a relaxed opportunity for the young people to learn new skills and then sit down together to enjoy the meal they had prepared. Outings such as these are hugely important for the young people we support as they provide respite and a chance to connect and share their experiences in a safe environment whilst simply being a teenager amongst other teenagers.

We also invited families to join us for visit to see Wicked at the Apollo Theatre in London – a wonderful experience and a lovely way for families to spend time together, allowing moments of escape in to the magical world of the theatre.

Last month our good friends at Mildreds Restaurants welcomed families for a delicious afternoon tea at their London restaurant. This monthly initiative is always such a joy, with Spread a Smile entertainers on hand to add to the fun. Often these afternoons enable children and young people going through treatment for serious illness to meet other families in similar situations. To see the smiles and relaxation makes everything we do worthwhile.

We know that everyone in a family is deeply affected by the illness of a child or sibling. Our outings, events and activities aim to support young patients, their parents, carers and siblings and bring moments of respite, joyful experiences and enduring memories at the most challenging of times.

Thank you to Underground Cookery School, Mildreds Restaurants, Apollo Theatre for helping to spread smiles and make all of our family events possible.

To find out more about our family events, please take a look here or register your interest.