Posts Tagged :

charity event

Sushi Dog Event

 780 400 Hannah Myers
By:

We were delighted to celebrate another special milestone with our long-standing partners SushiDog, who hosted their first-ever charity night at their Warren Street site last Friday, raising an amazing £623 for Spread a Smile.

The evening brought together fundraising, food and plenty of fun, with guests enjoying bingo, a raffle, a DJ, collaborative drinks and plenty of SushiDog’s much-loved sushi. There was also a very special guest, with Thomas the Therapy Dog joining the celebrations and helping to spread even more smiles.

SushiDog have been long-standing supporters of Spread a Smile, generously providing a Sushi Dog stand at our annual Summer and Winter Parties over the years. Their delicious sushi has become a firm favourite with the families we support, helping to spread thousands of smiles at our family events.

More recently, SushiDog have sponsored Thomas the Therapy Dog, supporting his visits to children in hospital where he brings comfort, companionship and joy to seriously ill children at their bedsides.

We are incredibly grateful to the whole Sushi Dog team for their continued commitment to Spread a Smile and for finding new ways to support our work. Their first charity night was a fantastic opportunity to bring their team, customers and supporters together while raising vital funds to help us continue spreading smiles.

We’d also like to say a huge thank you to all the businesses and individuals who helped make the evening possible: Fresh Union, Collectiv, Ahi no Mochi, Joii, Lockdown Liquor, Anupam, Mixtons, Living Things, J&I Sounds, Isaac, and our wonderful DJs Delila and Daphne.

Thank you to everyone who came along, donated, volunteered or helped make the night such a success. We’re so grateful for your support.

If you’d like to find out more about partnering with Spread a Smile and supporting our work with seriously ill children and their families, please get in touch with rosie@spreadasmile.org

Lego Play pavilion charity day

World Play Day with the LEGO Group

 780 400 Gabrielle Devine
By:

Spread a Smile was delighted to be invited by the LEGO Group to welcome some of the families we support to the LEGO Play Pavilion at the Serpentine Gallery, London for some exciting LEGO® based workshops and fun.

The pop-up pavilion was installed to celebrate World Play Day, the LEGO Group’s celebration of the UN’s International Day of Play on 11 June and featured brilliant LEGO® creations including a LEGO® wall, slide and a giant parrot. Families supported by Spread a Smile were invited to join across two days, immersing themselves in the world of play and LEGO® and taking part in three workshops:

“Abstract Art” – using large trays of LEGO® in all different shapes, sizes and colours, guests were encouraged to make an abstract piece of art which were then displayed on a large mural wall.

“Pop Art” – for this workshop, the families used a 10 x 10 base board to create any design they wanted in the style of pop art, which finished pieces including a rainbow and characters such as Mario and PAC-Man!

“Speed Building Challenge” – This fun, quick fire building challenge saw our families create a robot using their LEGO® within 7 minutes, before adapting the robots to fly and then adding extra parts so the robot could swim underwater.

LEGO play pavilion

Events such as these provide meaningful and valuable opportunities for families with seriously ill children to do something fun together, providing moments of creativity, connection, and enjoyment.

The workshop leaders were fantastic, showing incredible patience and adapting the workshops to suit each family, and we are so grateful to the LEGO Group for offering this wonderful opportunity to the families we support.

At Spread a Smile, we are proud of the partnerships we build with our corporate supporters. We’ve worked with the LEGO Group for a number of years, developing innovative initiatives to support families with seriously ill children and creating a special and mutually beneficial partnership which engages and inspires everyone involved.

If you or your company would like to find out more about developing a bespoke partnership with Spread a Smile, then please do reach out to Rosie Perkins from our Partnerships Team at rosie@spreadasmile.org.

Canary Wharf Contractors Fund Golf Day

 780 400 Susie
By:

Earlier this month on a beautiful Summer’s Day, our friends at Canary Wharf Contractors Fund held their hugely popular charity Golf Day at London Golf Club.

The event is held every year to raise funds for their charity partners and Spread a Smile was honoured to be amongst them, with the charity’s Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson and Head of Fundraising, Imogen Slazenger attending on the day.

Welcoming almost 200 golfers to play on the renowned Jack Nicklaus designed championship course, the event was one to remember, with two of our brilliant magicians also joining in the fun with magic, tricks and fun for guests.

Lucy Jackson said, “We are so grateful to everyone at Canary Wharf Contractors Fund for their ongoing belief in and support of our work, helping to spread smiles to seriously ill children and young people across the country. Thank you to all those involved including everyone who played, bid on the silent auction, donated on the day and helped raise much needed funds for Spread a Smile and the other worthy causes.”

Please do get in touch with our Head of Fundraising, Imogen by emailing imogen@spreadasmile.org if you would like to chat about supporting Spread a Smile through a (fundraising) event.

Comedy Night a huge success

 780 400 Susie
By:

What a night! Monday saw our third annual Comedy Night at The Comedy Store London, sponsored by Canary Wharf Contractors Fund and curated and hosted by our amazing Ambassador Suzi Ruffell.

The evening was sold out, with 400 guests joining us for an incredible night of standup comedy from the extremely talented Rob Beckett, Laura Smyth, Dinesh Nathan, Maisie Adam, Thanyia Moore and Tom Allen.

The Spread a Smile Comedy Night is an important date in our fundraising calendar, providing an opportunity to welcome supporters and new friends for a fun night out whilst also raising vital funds for our work spreading smiles to seriously ill children, young people and their families. Over £22,000 was raised on the night through ticket sales and a raffle and guests heard more about our work and the difference they are helping to make to the families we support.

Lucy Jackson, Spread a Smile Chief Executive said, “This year’s Comedy Night was a huge success, made possible by the wonderful support by our incredible Ambassador Suzi Ruffell, her fellow comedians, our headline sponsor and guests. The room was filled with so much joy and it really brought home just how important smiles and laughter are. Our heartfelt thanks goes out to everyone who made this brilliant event possible and for helping to raise such a brilliant amount to ensure we can keep spreading smiles to our families when they need us most.”

We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who joined us and to Suzi for all her hard work bringing this brilliant event together. To comedians Rob Beckett, Laura Smyth, Dinesh Nathan, Maisie Adam, Thanyia Moore and Tom Allen for treating us to such a wonderful evening of entertainment and giving up their time to help spread smiles.

Also thank you to our headline sponsor Canary Wharf Contractors Fund for their continued support, our VIP guests Hamilton Court FX, Bright Little Stars Nursery and Westgate Healthcare and everyone who donated prizes and gifts including, Marmalade of London, Dash Drinks, Tony’s Chocolonely UK, Romesh Ranganathan and Riding House Café.

Please do get in touch with us at fundraising@spreadasmile.org if you or your company would like to find out more about supporting our work.

Canary Wharf Contractors Fund support

 780 400 Susie
By:

We wanted to shout about our brilliant partnership with Canary Wharf Group and their charity Canary Wharf Contractors Fund, which supports Spread a Smile through a number of exciting initiatives.

They really do go the extra mile for charity, each year hosting an annual Golf Day, Football Tournament and Dragon Boat Race which help to raise vital funds for Spread a Smile, alongside other charities such as London Air Ambulance, St Joseph’s Hospice, Construction Youth and the Lighthouse Construction Charity.

Lucy Jackson, Chief Executive at Spread a Smile said, “It is an absolute pleasure working with the team at Canary Wharf Contractors Fund. They have such enthusiasm to help make a difference and support our work spreading smiles to seriously ill children, young people and their families. We really can’t thank them enough for their wonderful support.”

Canary Wharf Contractors are also the proud sponsor of our annual Comedy Night, helping us to bring this brilliant event to the fore and reach new audiences:

“We’re so proud to continue to sponsor the Spread a Smile’s Comedy Night each year. It’s set to be another great evening and we’re pleased to be able to support it and the brilliant work the charity does spreading smiles to seriously ill children.” Alec Vallintine, Managing Director – Construction at Canary Wharf Group.

We’d like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to everyone at Canary Wharf Contractors Fund and Canary Wharf Group for their brilliant support.

Comedy Night hosted by Suzi Ruffell is back

 780 400 Susie
By:

We’re excited to announce that our much-loved Spread a Smile Comedy Night, hosted by our Ambassador Suzi Ruffell returns to The Comedy Store, London on Monday 4 December.

This will be our third annual Comedy Night, once again generously sponsored by Canary Wharf Contractors. Following on from the success of last year’s event, Suzi Ruffell has curated another fantastic evening of stand-up comedy, featuring a brilliant line up of famously funny faces, including Tom Allen, Rob Beckett, Dinesh Nathan, Maisie Adam, Laura Smyth and Thanyia Moore.

“As a Spread a Smile Ambassador, I’m proud to do what I can to support the charity’s brilliant work spreading smiles to seriously ill children and young people and I’ve seen first hand the difference they make. I’m excited to be hosting another exciting Comedy Night at The Comedy Store to help raise vital funds to support Spread a Smile’s work. I’ll once again be joined by some legends of comedy to spread some smiles and raise as much as possible on the night for a very worthwhile cause. We hope you’ll join us!” Suzi Ruffell

Tickets cost £26 each and are on sale now here.

We are extremely grateful to our sponsors Canary Wharf Contractors for supporting the event:

“We’re so proud to continue to sponsor the Spread a Smile’s Comedy Night each year. It’s set to be another great evening and we’re pleased to be able to support it and the brilliant work the charity does spreading smiles to seriously ill children.” Alec Vallintine, Managing Director – Construction at Canary Wharf Group.

Thank you to Suzi and all of our fantastic comedians for generously giving up their time and sharing their talents with us. Tickets are expected to sell fast, so don’t miss out – get yours today! UPDATE 30/10/23 – TICKETS SOLD OUT!

All proceeds will support Spread a Smile’s work spreading joy and laughter to seriously ill children in hospitals across the UK.

Event details (Over 18s only)

Date: Monday 4 December

Venue: The Comedy Store, 1A Oxendon Street, London SW1Y 4EE

Timings: Bar and Diner open from 7pm. Show starts at 8pm