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Christmas 2025 Spread a Smile round-up

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For families supported by Spread a Smile, Christmas can be a particularly challenging time, with hospital stays, treatments, and uncertainty often overshadowing the festive season.

This Christmas, Spread a Smile supported more seriously ill children, young people and their 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 how we’ll be spreading smiles when they are needed most this Christmas. You can also watch the film here.

More Smile Hampers than ever before
We sent out 2,000 personalised Smile Hampers to seriously ill children and their siblings in time for Christmas – an increase from 1,874 in 2024. Each one was full of gifts hand-picked with each child in mind, with our friends from DPD generously supporting us by picking up the hampers every week and delivering them directly to homes in time for Christmas.

It was a huge team effort, with 480 volunteers joining us over 6 weeks from Monday 3 November to Friday 12 December, giving up over 120 hours of support to hand-pick thousands of gifts for the Smile Hampers. Our supporters and corporate partners helped by buying and donating thousands of gifts for the hampers, making everything possible.

Supporting our hospital and hospice partners
During December we carried out 87 in-person visits (more than ever before) to our NHS hospital and hospice partners, helping to spread some festive cheer. This included:

  • 15 visits by Father Christmas and the Spread a Smile elves to 11 of our NHS Hospital partners, giving the opportunity for children spending time in hospital to meet Santa and the Spread a Smile elves;
  • Visits to Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) on Christmas Day generously funded by our friends at Whitepaper;
  • Support for Christmas Parties at 8 NHS hospital and one hospice partners (Helen & Douglas House).

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 the chance to have a personalised online meet up with the big man himself. Running from 22, 23, 24 December (for families), we welcomed over 125 children to visit our grotto, and also organised hospital sessions for children at Leicester Children’s Hospital, Wrexham Hospital and The Grange Hospital.

Beautiful festive windows in NHS hospitals
Spread a Smile’s Head of Art, Marina Constantinou and our team of artists visited some of our NHS hospital partners, including Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, to paint 100 beautiful Winter and Christmas murals across the hospital wards, walls and windows, helping to brighten up the clinical spaces and spread some festive cheer for the families and staff there. Look out for murals at Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice, Maidenhead, University College Hospital (UCLH), Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), The Whittington Hospital, Kings College Hospital, St Marys Hospital and The Royal Brompton Hospital.

Christmas Gift Treat Drops
Alongside our Smile Hampers, we delivered boxes of gifts to all 39 of our NHS hospital partners. Each box was packed full of gifts to be handed out to seriously ill children and young people and help spread some festive cheer.

In total 10,000 gifts have been sent out to seriously ill children and their siblings, in our Smile Hampers and also in Christmas treat boxes. These have been donated by generous individuals and companies.

Virtual entertainer sessions
Spread a Smile is also running virtual entertainer visits for seriously ill children and their siblings, from magic to music art and more. They mean that the children we support can enjoy our services from wherever they live and are particularly important for those who are isolating at home and unable to spend time with others outside of the family home. This year we organised festive virtual group sessions for the families we support, bringing Christmas cheer directly into their homes and including ‘Stories with Santa’ on Christmas Eve.

Festive Family Events and Outings
winter funland spread a smileSpread a Smile runs a calendar of special events and outings for the families we support to enjoy, from West End theatre and cinema trips to chocolate and pottery workshops, brunches, afternoon teas and so much more. They give the families we support the chance to spend time making memories together without the worry of illness and treatment plans. In December we welcomed over 100 of the families we support to two special Christmas themed events – an afternoon tea at vegan restaurant, Mildreds, and also a trip to Winter Funland at Olympia London, for whom Spread a Smile is a charity partner.

In total, we’ll be spreading over 5,000 smiles this festive season, bringing joy, happiness and special festive moments to families with seriously ill children across the country.

Donate a gift from our Amazon Wish List

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This Christmas, we are aiming to deliver 2,000 festive Smile Hampers for the seriously ill children we support and their siblings. Each one is thoughtfully filled with gifts chosen to match a child’s interests, passions and favourite things.

Our Smile Hampers are created to bring a moment of joy to families facing the challenges of serious illness. Filled with treats, creative activities, toys, books and sensory items, each hamper provides practical ways for families to spend time together and take a break from the pressures of treatment. More than just presents, they show families that they are not on their own and that people are thinking of them this Christmas.

To reach our goal of 2,000 Smile Hampers, we need to source more than 10,000 gifts in total. It’s a huge undertaking and one we can only achieve with the generosity and kindness of our incredible supporters.

By donating a gift, you can help fill our Smile Hampers with items that bring joy, comfort to children spending their Christmas in hospital or undergoing treatment. One of the easiest ways to help is by choosing a gift from our bespoke Amazon Gift List, which you can view here.  Anything you purchase will be sent directly to our team and packed straight into a Smile Hamper, ready to be delivered to a child in time for Christmas.

Donate a gift here.

If you are a company or business, we would be so grateful for your support. We are in real need of larger quantities of gifts or financial donations that allow us to buy the items we know children will love. If you can help, please get in touch with us at fundraising@spreadasmile.org and our team will be delighted to chat.

Please do take a look at our gift list or contact the team to find out how you can help spread joy and laughter to seriously ill children this festive season. Thank you so much for your support.

Donate a prize for our Christmas Auction

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This Christmas, we’re aiming to spread as many smiles as possible to seriously ill children and their siblings and to do that, we need your help.

In November we’ll be launching our exclusive Silent Auction and Raffle and we’re looking for prize donations, from gift hampers, to restaurant vouchers, memorabilia, jewellery, event tickets and more.

Every prize, no matter the size will help us spread joy and laughter this festive season, through our Smile Hampers, packed full of gifts and sent directly to the children we support, to entertainer hospital visits, treat drops and so much more.

If you or your company are able to donate a prize, we’d love to hear from you. Please email Tasha Mann at tashamann@spreadasmile.org to get the ball rolling.

Thank you.

Spread a Smile on Sky News

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On the morning of 23 December, we were delighted to be invited onto Sky News to talk about our Christmas initiatives, spreading smiles to seriously ill children and young people.

Spread a Smile Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson along with our entertainer, Betty the Elf were interviewed live on Sky News talking about our in-person visits to 15 NHS hospitals across London, alongside our Smile Hamper initiative.

You can watch the interview below.

Festive art at GOSH

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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.

Help spread joy and love this festive season

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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.

Christmas at Spread a Smile is GO!

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This week saw our first volunteers join us in the office to start packing our festive Smile Hampers to be sent out to 1,750 seriously ill children and their siblings in time for Christmas.

Britain’s Got Talent winner and Spread a Smile entertainer and Ambassador, Richard Jones plus one of our Young Ambassadors, Varun Shradhanand Mahatme were on hand on Monday morning to prepare gifts and help fill boxes alongside volunteers from our friends at McVities.

“It was such a fun day helping to pack Smile Hampers with fellow Ambassador Varun and some of the brilliant volunteers that give up their time every year to help make this initiative happen. As an Ambassador and a magician who regularly goes into hospital with the Spread a Smile team to help bring a little joy to seriously ill children, I’ve seen first-hand the difference the charity makes during some of the most difficult times of a child’s life. To know that the Smile Hampers will be going out in time for Christmas, spreading that little bit of extra happiness and wonder really is something special and I was delighted to be part of it.” Richard Jones

Each Smile Hamper is full of gifts hand-picked with each child in mind and designed to bring a little bit of festive cheer. We were delighted to welcome ITV London who joined us to film and help spread the word about Spread a Smile’s Smile Hamper initiative, interviewing Richard, Varun and Spread a Smile Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson. (Watch the film below). The feature was made possible thanks to Jamie Nagioff and Joseph Eskenazy from creative PR agency Ready10, who gave up their time pro bono to work with the Spread a Smile team to develop the media pitch and encourage support from the media.

We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported so far, including Richard, Varun, Jamie and Joseph, all of our brilliant volunteers and the companies and individuals who have generously donated money and gifts towards the hampers. Plus, to Helen Keenan and the team from ITV London for visiting, filming and helping to raise vital awareness about our work.

If you’d like to support our Smile Hamper initiative, you can buy gifts from our Amazon Gift List here. Or please donate £19 to help fund a bespoke Smile Hamper for  a seriously ill child or their sibling. Thank you.

Help spread smiles this Christmas

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By:

It’s that time of year when Spread a Smile kicks off its preparation for the festive season and this year we are aiming to do more than ever before to spread smiles in the lead up to Christmas. And to do that we really need your help! 

We’re aiming to send out a record number of 1,750 personalised Festive Smile Hampers to seriously ill children, young people and their siblings, spreading joy when it is needed most. 

Our Smile Hampers are packed full of gifts, hand-picked with each child in mind, and are delivered directly to their home or to hospital. We’ll also be delivering thousands of gifts to our NHS hospital and hospice partners to be shared with children and young people on the wards, helping to bring smiles, distraction and normality during the festive period. 

Please buy a gift to support a seriously ill child this Christmas. 

Our Amazon wish list has lots of lovely gifts to buy for children and young people of all ages. All gifts purchased will be sent straight to us so we can add them to our Smile Hampers and have them delivered in time for Christmas. 

If your company can help by supplying larger quantities of gifts, we’d love to hear from you.  

Please email the team at fundraising@spreadasmile.org to get the ball rolling. We are looking for all sorts of small and medium sized brand new items for children of all ages. Ideas include jewellery, water bottles, stationery, fluffy socks, beanie hats, toiletries, lip balms, art sets, portable speakers, phone accessories, gaming stuff, headphones, books, rattles, teethers, soft and sensory toys. 

For the seriously ill children and young people we support, Christmas can be a difficult time, spent in hospital away from the comforts of home. Each year Spread a Smile helps to bring back the magic of Christmas. 

A huge thank you to the individuals and companies who have donated gifts so far and please get in touch if you can help in some way. Thank you. 

Buy your Christmas gifts here.

Festive Smile Hamper Appeal 2023

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Christmas is always a busy time of year for Spread a Smile because it’s a time when the families we support need us most. For children and young people battling serious or terminal illness, Christmas can mean time spent in hospital, undergoing treatment and separated from family and friends.

Please join us in our mission to bring the magic of Christmas and as much joy and laughter as possible to the thousands of children we support and their families as we send out over 1,400 personalised Smile Hampers for children and their siblings. A Smile Hamper is a complimentary gift box containing a selection of toys, games and treats. Each hamper is personalised and handpicked for each child.

Please donate £25 to help fund a Smile Hamper for a seriously ill child or their sibling.

“Folakemi’s heart condition is life-limiting and as she grows we just don’t know what will happen. Spread a Smile shines a little light through all the worry and darkness, particularly at Christmas time. Folakemi and her sister Temitope are so looking forward to receiving their Smile Hampers. The excitement and joy are wonderful and it brings a tear to my eye watching them laugh and unwrap their gifts. It means the world to all of us.” Anita, Folakemi and Temitope’s Mum

The children we support deserve a special treat and with your help, we can give them just that. Please give what you can and help us reach every family who needs us with a little bit of Spread a Smile joy this festive season. Thank you.

Help spread smiles and joy this Christmas

 780 400 Susie
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This Christmas, Spread a Smile will send over 1,000 personalised festive Smile Hampers and 4,000 gifts to seriously ill children in hospital and at home and to their siblings too, spreading joy when it is needed most.

Our Smile Hampers are packed full of gifts, hand-picked with each child in mind, and are delivered directly to their home or to hospital in time for Christmas. We’ll also be delivering gifts to our NHS hospital and hospice partners to be shared with children and young people on the wards, helping to bring smiles and distraction during the festive period.

To do this, we need the support of generous businesses and individuals to donate gifts and treats for our gift packages.

Can you or your company help to spread a smile this Christmas?

You can purchase gifts from our Amazon gift list which we will then send to children in hospital or pop into one of our Smile Hampers.

If your business can help, or you could put us in touch with one who might, please email the team at fundraising@spreadasmile.org We are looking for items suitable for children of all ages and need more than 4,000 small and medium sized gifts. Everything has to be brand new and we specifically looking for…

  • Gifts for teenagers, (including jewellery, water bottles, stationery, fluffy socks, beanie hats, toiletries, lip balms, crystal art sets, portable speakers and phone accessories);
  • Gifts for boys aged 7+ (such as toiletries, beanie hats, gaming stuff, headphones etc.);
  • Gifts for toddlers and babies aged three and under (books, rattles, teethers, soft and sensory toys).

For the seriously ill children and young people we support, Christmas can be a difficult time, spent in hospital away from the comforts of home. Each year Spread a Smile helps bring back the magic of Christmas.

A huge thank you to the individuals and companies who have donated gifts so far, including
Hasbro, Rainbow Designs, OTL Technology, Cheatwell Games, Aurora World, Plus Plus, Crayola, Barry M, Playmobil and Melissa and Doug.

We have lots planned this festive season to spread smiles far and wide, so please contact the team if you’d like to find out more about sponsoring any of our activities. Thank you.

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