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Entertainer Variety Show

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Spread a Smile is delighted to announce its first ever Entertainer Variety Show – a very special fundraising event where will showcase the talents of the charity’s amazing entertainers, providing guests with the opportunity to experience first-hand the joy and happiness they bring to everyone they meet.

The Variety Show will take place on Wednesday 13 November from 7:30pm at The Bedford, Balham – a venue renowned for hosting gigs for many famous musicians and comedians, including Ed Sheeran and Joe Lycett.

Spread a Smile entertainer and Visit Manager, Sar (also known as Sar with the guitar), has been working closely with the charity’s fundraising team to curate the event saying, “During my time working with Spread a Smile I’ve met countless brave and inspiring children and their families, as well as collaborating with a phenomenal group of talented performers.

“The inspiration behind the Variety Show fundraiser stems from a desire for family and friends to witness for themselves the magic of Spread a Smile entertainers. This event is a celebration of the charity’s remarkable work and a chance to raise awareness and support this brilliant cause.

“With performances from musicians, singers, magicians and more, we can’t wait for everyone to join us for what looks set to be a brilliant night out.”

All proceeds from the show will go towards raising vital funds for Spread a Smile’s work spreading smiles to the families we support during some of the darkest times of their lives.

Get your tickets now!

Entertainer Variety Show
Date: Wednesday 13 November, 7.30pm
Venue: The Bedford 77 Bedford Hill, Balham, SW12 9HD
Ticket price: £23.50
Drinks and food available to buy at the venue.

Blackstone Cheque presentation

Blackstone Gives Back Challenge secures grant

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Spread a Smile is delighted to announce that we have been chosen as the first-place EMEA beneficiary charity by the Blackstone Charitable Foundation as part of their ‘Blackstone Gives Back Challenge’. 

The initiative calls on Blackstone employees around the globe to pitch for their favourite charities to receive grants from their Charitable Foundation. Spread a Smile was represented in EMEA by Antonia Voss, Laura Troy, Rebecca Flower and Georgie Bannister, who delivered their pitch to secure first place for the charity. 

This incredibly generous grant will have a huge impact for Spread a Smile over the coming months with the charity’s Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson saying, “Spread a Smile relies completely on donations from individuals and companies to continue our work bringing joy and laughter to seriously ill children and their families. We are so grateful to everyone at Blackstone for choosing to support our work and for helping us to ensure that we can be there for even more families during some of the darkest times of their lives.” 

To find out more about Spread a Smile’s work delivering in-person entertainer visits, virtual sessions and more, please click here.  

Mamma Mia – My, my what a show!

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My, my what a show! The team from Spread a Smile had a glorious afternoon taking nine of the families we support to see Mamma Mia the Musical at the Novello Theatre in London.

Our VIPS loved watching the smash hit musical, singing, dancing and clapping along and the smiles were as bright as the theatre lights.

After the show, our families were incredibly lucky to meet several members of the cast, who kindly gave up their time to pose for photos and answer any questions our families had. Tessa, 10, who wants to be performer asked, “do you ever forget your lines?” and “do all the cast members get on?”.

Lauren, mum of Elsa (13) said “Thank you so, so much for yesterday it was amazing and as I predicted Elsa has not stopped telling everyone especially how she “met the characters” – I keep telling her they are the cast! She has taken the programme into school today. I honestly cannot express our gratitude as always, words do not seem enough.”

A huge Spread a Smile thank you to the cast of Mamma Mia for being so amazing and taking the time out of their busy schedule to meet our families after the show – you’re all Super Troupers!

To find out more about our family events, click here.

Fintern take on 3 peaks challenge

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Our fundraisers really are incredible, going the extra mile for Spread a Smile and raising funds through a range of different challenges and activities. Earlier this month a brilliant team from one of our corporate partners, Fintern/Abound, took on the Three Peaks Challenge in aid of Spread a Smile. climbing the three highest mountains in the UK in just 24 hours.

We spoke to Mark London, Chief Risk Officer at Fintern about the experience.

“Our Three Peaks team consisted of 12 staff members, plus two special guests from HSBC and EY. We set off on day one with a spring in our step for our first (and highest) peak, Ben Nevis, standing at 1,343 metres tall and the highest mountain in the UK.

“Sadly, the weather conditions were not on our side with polar gale force winds knee deep snow and a -15c wind chill factor making for arctic conditions at the summit. As a result, all organised tours were turned around at Corner 8, (approximately 1,200 metres) due to the need for additional gear to safely continue. It felt a bit frustrating not to reach the summit, but it was out of our control, and we were proud to have reached where we did in such difficult conditions. All in all, our first peak took 4 hours 40 and it was then on to the Lake District to take on Scafell Pike.

“Standing at 978 metres, Scafell Pike is England’s highest peak and welcomed us with much better weather conditions. The scenery was amazing as we approached in the evening sun, driving alongside Wast Water and the view from the top was so lovely. The team made it up and down in a speedy 2 hours 57 minutes, which we were really pleased with. We felt energised and even sprinted the last part of the descent to be sure to get in under three hours!

“Last stop was Mount Snowdon in Wales, and we were pleased to have good conditions for most of the way up before being met with strong, cold winds at the summit (1,085 metres). The round trip up and down Wales’s highest mountain, took a respectable 4 hours.”

“This was the second time I’ve undertaken the Three Peaks Challenge in support of Spread a Smile, and it was brilliant to do it again, this time with colleagues as a team building exercise and to raise even more funds for our charity partner. There was a huge sense of camaraderie as together we covered 26 miles (plus quite a few more in the van), climbed for nearly 11 hours and reached a total of nearly 2,900 metres and all in just 24 hours. What’s more, together we’ve raised over £3.5k to help spread smiles to seriously ill children and their families, which makes the effort even more worthwhile. “

Feeling inspired? Please do get in touch with the team to find out more about fundraising for us. Email fundraising@spreadasmile.org today!

London Marathon success

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Nine amazing runners joined Team Smile for the TCS London Marathon this year.

Andy, Carly, Charlotte, Dawn, Jake, Jemma, Marcus and Martin all took on this incredible challenge in aid of Spread a Smile, together raising over £30,000 to help us spread smiles to seriously ill children and their families.

“I just wanted to say thank you so much for your support and for the opportunity to run. It was such an incredible experience, and the atmosphere was amazing.” Marcus Godfrey, Team Smile runner

The London Marathon is one of the world’s most popular marathons, covering 26.2 miles around the streets of our beautiful capital city, taking in London’s best landmarks including Buckingham Palace, The Cutty Sark, Tower Bridge and Canary Wharf.

Spread a Smile was delighted to be there on the day, in partnership with Children with Cancer UK, to cheer our teams on along the route. With 50,000 runners in total, the experience was one not to be forgotten and everyone at Spread a Smile felt proud to support such a dedicated team of runners.

Lucy Jackson, Spread a Smile Chief Executive said, “By taking on the London Marathon, Team Smile truly went the extra mile in support of Spread a Smile. We loved cheering them on and were delighted to welcome them to a special post-race party with our friends from Children with Cancer UK, where we celebrated their achievements with entertainment, magic and games for the families. We can’t wait for next year and a huge thank you to all of our amazing runners for their hard work and commitment and for raising so much to spread smiles when they are needed most.”

To find out more about our upcoming events and joining Team Smile, please click here or email Rimi at rimi@spreadasmile.org

Alice Chennell Volunteer

Volunteer spotlight

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Spread a Smile is lucky enough to have some amazing volunteers who support us at our events and other key times of the year, including Christmas and Easter. Without them we simply would not be able to spread as many smiles as we do to seriously ill children and young people.

We chatted to one such volunteer, Alice Chennell about how she started volunteering for Spread a Smile and the impact it has made for her.

“I found out about Spread a Smile when the company I work for, Spring Finance, became a corporate partner of the charity. The Spread a Smile team visited our office to present at one of our company meetings, showcasing their work and how we could get involved. It seemed such an inspiring cause to support.

“In July I took the opportunity to volunteer for Spread a Smile’s annual Summer Party. It’s a huge event which sees over 400 children and families supported by the charity come together for a really special day out. There were all sorts of stalls and fun to be had and I helped set up and run the glitter tattoo station.

“The day went so quickly. It was breathtaking when you looked around at all the activities that were organised for the children. Being able to let the children forget about anything they have going on and just focus on a bit of fun was very rewarding for both myself and I think the respective adults that attended alongside them. I really enjoyed seeing their faces light up as they picked their favourite tattoo designs and watched them appear when the stencil was lifted. For days after I was finding glitter everywhere and it didn’t fail to make me smile.

“For me, the volunteering meant for a few moments I was able to give the children the option to make decisions for themselves. Let them pick out their design and colours and watch them walk away proud of their glitter tattoos. I think it was also lovely to see the adults watching the children enjoy themselves which wouldn’t be possible without Spread a Smile putting on such an awesome event and allowing me to be a part of it.”

Thank you to Alice and all of our wonderful volunteers for making our work spreading smiles possible.

Please email admin@spreadasmile.org if you or your company are interested in volunteering opportunities or partnering with Spread a Smile. Thank you.

Northwick Park Hospital

Partner Focus – Northwick Park Hospital

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Spread a Smile has been supporting Northwick Park NHS Hospital since August 2021 through our monthly in person visits to children and young people on the ward and oncology clinic. Patients are also welcome to join any of our online services including weekly group sessions and half-term activities and when needed, we organise special, bespoke visits for individual oncology patients.

For Children’s Mental Health Week, we spoke to Oncology Clinical Nurse Specialists Miriam Sager and Tenneh Koroma about the role of Spread a Smile at the hospital and the impact on positive mental health and wellbeing for the children, young people and staff on the ward and clinic.

When did you first find out about Spread a Smile?

“I first found out about Spread a Smile and the great work they do whilst working for Great Ormond Street Hospital many years ago. Forwarding on a few years, following a chance encounter with the Spread a Smile’s CEO Lucy Jackson, a new link and partnership was forged between the charity and Northwick Park Hospital.” (Miriam)

What impact does Spread a Smile have on the hospital staff and patients?

“Spread a Smile makes an impact on everyone they meet on the wards. The families are always so grateful for everything they do. Whether Spread a Smile attends and support in clinic, initiates play on the ward or gives online classes and demonstrations to families at home, the patients and their families are always re-energised and love seeing the happiness and laughter in the children’s faces.

“For staff on the paediatric wards, the impact of Spread a Smile is hugely positive and uplifting in spirit. They bring so much light and happiness with them and we are lifted seeing the excitement from the patients and how at ease the parents and wider families become. I’m pretty sure there are more requests for photos from staff than patients!

“During the most difficult times post Covid, when restrictions on visitors were still in place, the Spread a Smile visits played an even more important role. They filled such a huge gap and enlightened the ward and clinic.”

What would it be like if Spread a Smile wasn’t there?

“The clinics would be far more clinical, boring and less interactive and fun without Spread a Smile. We don’t have dedicated play specialists most of the time with our patients, so Spread a Smile helps fill the gap for us and allows the clinic and clinical treatments such as chemotherapy, infusions and transfusions to be given in a fun, joyous environment, full of silliness, happiness and giggles. 

Welcoming the wonderful Spread a Smile team, especially after Covid has been exactly what we needed.”

Tell us about a memorable Spread a Smile moment.

“There are so many! We initially started involving Spread a Smile to support us and help elaborate the celebrations for children finishing treatment and ringing the ‘End Of Treatment Bell’. The first child was a little 4-year-old girl who was extremely shy. She never spoke to us during treatment, always looking at her mum to speak for her.  

“On this special day Spread a Smile’s Fairy Ellie joined the celebration, singing songs from Frozen. Magician Ian was also there doing wonderful magic tricks and balloon modelling. All of a sudden, this shy little girl came to life! She started engaging with everyone, ringing the bell so loudly and proudly that there wasn’t a dry eye in the clinic. Pure happiness was shared all around.

“Another little boy we look after, was often very unwell after his chemotherapy and spent long periods of time in the hospital. This little boy was at his happiest and most content playing with dolls in his room. His Dad received a call from Spread a Smile to offer him a last-minute cancellation ticket to go and see Frozen in the West End. The Dad didn’t tell him where he was going until they were in the taxi for fear of him being too unwell to go.

“When they returned, the pure joy and excitement on the little boy’s face was incredible. Seeing that and hearing his recollection of his outing, the Frozen cast, the trip to a musical, was truly emotional and heart-warming. It made all of our day.

We also had a beautiful 12-year-old young lady who was towards end of life and had spent a lot of time in hospital. Her mobility and eyesight had deteriorated but, we still wanted to do something special for her. One phone call to Spread a Smile and we were able to welcome two beautiful Spread a Smile entertainers who used touch to gently massage her arms, whilst she sang Disney songs with them. Together they created a special video memory moment that the parents can treasure forever.”

What makes you smile?

“We smile just working with these wonderful, brave children and their families who are going through such tough cancer journeys. Every time we hear a child we are caring for giggle and laugh along with the Spread a Smile entertainers, it is huge. Knowing that for a brief period they can just be children brings a smile to our faces and it makes the tough times that bit easier.”

Please help us continue our vital work spreading smiles to children in hospital by donating today. Thank you.