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events

comedy night spread a smile with suzi ruffell

Stand-up Comedy Night with Suzi Ruffell

 780 400 Gabrielle Devine
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On Monday 17 November, we returned to The Comedy Store, London for the 6th Spread a Smile stand-up Comedy Night, raising vital funds to support our work and bring joy to seriously ill children and their families.

Generously sponsored by Enra Specialist Finance and Texel Foundation, and hosted and curated by our incredible Ambassador Suzi Ruffell, the evening was a huge success, with laughter filling the room from start to finish.

Guests were treated to brilliant performances from Tom Allen, Rhys James, Harriet Kemsley, and Limahl Germain. Military Mind-Reader and Spread a Smile Ambassador, Richard Jones, also took to the stage to showcase his incredible magic and illusions, leaving the audience amazed.

A huge thank you to Suzi Ruffell for being such a wonderful Ambassador and all her efforts curating our Comedy Night every year. Also to Tom, Rhys, Harriet, Limahl and Richard for helping to make the night one to remember, our sponsors Canary Wharf Contractors Fund and Enra Specialist Finance for their continued support, and to everyone who attended. Together we’ve raised thousands of pounds to help fund our work spreading smiles to seriously ill children, young people and their families.

The evening also marked the launch of our Christmas Appeal, which features a silent auction and prize draw. Running from Monday 17 November to Tuesday 9 December, you can bid for and win amazing prizes with all monies raised helping us bring even more joy and laughter when it’s needed most. Please support our Christmas Appeal here.

 

 

Chocolate workshop at MyChocolate

 780 400 Susie
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At Spread a Smile, we try to ensure our family events cater for all ‘tastes’, so our first ever chocolate making workshop really did go down a treat.

The workshop was held at MyChocolate near Old Street in London and led by one of their brilliant theatrical chocolatiers, who brought so much energy and flair to the session. We were joined by 12 children who all experienced making some delicious chocolate truffles, filled with all sorts of yummy flavours such as honeycomb, sea salt, dried fruits and colourful sprinkles.

The chocolatier guided them through each step, from piping the chocolate to rolling it to their desired shape and finally coating the truffles in cocoa powder before topping it with edible decorations.

Our VIP guests also enjoyed making chocolate slabs and were taught the art of decorative feathering and other design work using dark, milk and white chocolate.

There was chocolate everywhere, but everyone had such a fantastic time creating their chocolate masterpieces. Working in pairs meant that the young people taking part were able to make new friends and socialise with other patients whilst their parents enjoyed a relaxing cup of tea, sitting together and chatting.

Every year Spread a Smile organises a calendar of family outings, events and activities 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.

Our thanks go to Hannah Saxton, Owner of MyChocolate for making us all feel so welcome and creating such a wonderful day which brought so much joy to the families who joined us.

Find out more about our work here.

Real Estate Committee raises over £200,000

 780 400 Susie
By:

Since our Real Estate Committee was formed back in 2023, the initiative has gone from strength to strength with over £200,000 raised by the real estate and property community through a series of dinners and events.

The Spread a Smile Real Estate Committee is chaired by Shaun Simons, Founder of Compton, and brings together key industry figures; Chris Davies, CEO at Uncommon, Nicky Barker, Managing Director at KKR, James Lass, Head of Operational Real Estate at Swiss Life Asset Managers UK, Michael Mirelman, Director at GRE Finance and Lee Jackson, Partner at Eversheds Sutherland.

Thanks to their commitment and drive, we have enjoyed some incredible networking opportunities and brilliant evenings together, welcoming over 200 professionals from the property sector and raising thousands of pounds to support Spread a Smile’s work bringing joy and laughter to seriously ill children and young people.

On Thursday 13 February, we welcomed 40 guests for our 6th Real Estate Dinner, hosted at Uncommon in Holborn. Generously sponsored by Chris Davies (Uncommon) and Shaun Simons (Compton), the evening showcased the work and talents of Spread a Smile, with one of our magicians, Sacha leaving guests in awe of his magic tricks and sleight of hand.

Spread a Smile singer and Visit Manager, Collette, also performed during the drinks reception, before talking to guests about her work with the charity over the last 12 years. A highlight of the evening was Collette’s performance of her most requested song in hospital – ‘A Million Dreams’ from The Greatest Showman.

Lucy Jackson, Spread a Smile Chief Executive said, “The Real Estate Committee continues to go from strength to strength and we are extremely proud of everything that has been achieved. The dinners are a unique and special opportunity for Spread a Smile to reach and engage new audiences within the property world. I am incredibly grateful to Shaun Simons, Chris Davies and the rest of the Committee for giving up their valuable time and investing so much energy in creating such a wonderful network and community of people, keen to find out more about and support vital work.” 

A huge thank you to Shaun, our Committee and everyone who has joined us, donated and continues to support this brilliant initiative.

To find out more about our Real Estate events and how your company can support Spread a Smile, please reach out to our Partnerships Manager, Lucy Keith at lucykeith@spreadasmile.org

Outings and events for the whole family

 780 400 Susie
By:

We know that everyone in a family is deeply affected by the illness of a child or sibling. It can mean that families are separated for long periods of time during treatment phases, with routines and day-to-day life changing to manage the demands of treatment plans and medical procedures.

Spread a Smile organises outings, events and activities that 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.

Gary Broadway (Family Events Coordinator) and Ellen Walker (Head of Family Events)

Our Head of Family Events, Ellen Walker, shared a bit more about our family events programme and why it is so important.

“Illness can bring with it huge amounts of stress and pressure for the families we support. There often isn’t much time for outings or fun family activities and sometimes there can be added financial pressures should one parent need to stop working to help care for an unwell child.

“Our family events programme aims to support families going through these extremely difficult situations. All of our outings are completely free of charge and range from trips to the theatre to see shows such as The Lion King, zoo visits, tea parties, workshops, cinema outings, parties, Formula 1 days, cooking experiences and so much more.

“The whole family is invited and it’s a chance for them to just relax and have fun. They can also meet and share with other families who have been through similar experiences. We make the events as fun as possible with lots of food, drinks and treats. Plus, our amazing entertainers are always on hand with music, magic, face-painting, arts and crafts and so much more. There’s such a positive, party atmosphere and a real sense of family and community and we receive such lovely feedback after events, with parents telling us the difference they have made. It’s a chance for them to create happy memories together and that is so important.

“So far this year, we’ve curated 36 brilliant events for the families, welcoming hundreds of children along with their siblings and family members. The majority are focussed in around the London area to correspond with our services provision, and we try to make sure they appeal to a range of ages, also catering for all family members that join us. This year we have introduced more events aimed at teenagers and also children with additional needs.

“Our next event is our annual Winter Party when we hope to welcome over 600 people during the day. It’s looking set to be an incredible event with delicious food stands, sweet treats, games, activities, entertainment and more. We also have an annual Summer Party in Coram’s Fields which is wonderful and much loved by our families. It’s location means that in-patients from Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) are able to come down and spend a bit of time with us should they be well enough to do so.

“As we head into 2025, we aim to provide up to four events a month, meaning well over 40 events this year. We’re always extremely grateful to our volunteers who give up their time to support our events and make sure they are as successful as possible. Also to our wonderful supporters for sponsoring or helping to fund them. We’re really excited about our plans this year and are looking forward to welcoming more families, helping them to create a bank of happy memories.

You can find out more about our family events here. If you are company who would like to support or sponsor our events, please do get in touch with us by email.

Restaurant partners making the difference

 780 400 Susie
By:

Just like many charities across the UK, Spread a Smile is fortunate to receive support from some wonderful restaurant and hospitality partners through events and fundraising – both of which go a long way helping us achieve our aims of being there for families with seriously ill children when they need us most.

We have been working in partnership with the Riding House Café group since January 2022, with their three restaurants generously hosting numerous events and tea parties for children and families supported by Spread a Smile. These events provide wonderful opportunities for families with seriously ill children to do something fun together and have a huge impact on wellbeing and positivity for the whole family.

Mildreds restaurants also host a monthly afternoon tea, providing a chance for our families to relax and enjoy themselves, with Spread a Smile’s entertainers on hand to join in the fun with music, magic, arts & crafts and face painting.

These events enable us to support families in a very important way, providing enjoyable days out during a very difficult time and we are so grateful to our brilliant friends at the Riding House Café group and Mildreds Restaurants for giving up their venues, time and resources to give something back.

And the support doesn’t end there. Many restaurants across the UK are also helping to raise significant amounts for different charities simply by adding a small discretionary donation to a menu item or the total bill. It is a hugely effective fundraising mechanism, providing an easy way for diners to give to charity.

Since 2022, the Riding House Group, has raised an incredible £55,223 for Spread a Smile by adding 25p to customers’ final dining bills (customers can opt out).  This is a huge amount which has helped Spread a Smile support over 1,830 seriously ill children and their families, through entertainment in hospital and virtually.

Similarly, both Mildreds restaurants and Brigit’s Bakery have supported Spread a Smile for World Smile Day, with Mildreds adding £1 to customer bills and raising around £8k in 2023 and Brigit’s Bakery regularly donating a % of all sales from bookings.

Spread a Smile has also been an incredibly grateful recipient of donations from the Flat Iron Fund. Guests at Flat Iron restaurants are invited to make an optional donation of 10 pence to the Flat Iron Fund, for every meal that they enjoy. The donation is matched by Flat Iron and 100% of the proceeds are then distributed to charities. In 2018, after raising £1m for Macmillan Cancer Support, the Flat Iron Fund was set up as an independent registered charity. Since then, the Fund has extended its support to many more charities, including Spread a Smile.

While there isn’t a single figure representing the total amount raised by all UK restaurants annually, this example shows how the approach can effectively generate substantial funds for charitable causes. Plus, the method aligns the restaurant’s financial success with charitable giving, creating a win-win scenario for both the business and the charity.

Lucy Jackson, Chief Executive of Spread a Smile on the impact of this fundraising tactic for the charity, said; “This simple act creates significant impact, allowing us to raise crucial funds that directly contribute to the important work that we undertake. What’s particularly powerful about this initiative is how seamlessly it can complement other corporate social responsibility efforts undertaken by restaurants, creating a meaningful partnership that not only supports a worthy cause but also deepens community engagement, increases awareness of our work and enhances customer goodwill.”

Jane Moore from Riding House Café said: “We are proud to partner with Spread a Smile.  As well as utilising our space to host events, we are fully committed to continue to raising funds and our fundraising efforts, whilst seemingly simple, are hugely impactful and go a long way to supporting the vital work they do.  

“We can help make a real difference in the lives of those in need while fostering a sense of community among our customers and staff. We believe it’s important for the wider restaurant industry to embrace similar practices. Collectively, we have the power to create substantial and lasting change across the charity sector in the UK, demonstrating that small actions can lead to big impact.”

Our aim is to be there for every child and young person that needs us, bringing joy and laughter during one of the darkest times of their lives.  So we welcome any restaurants or hospitality venues that would like to find out more about joining the Spread a Smile family and supporting our work. Please do reach out to our Partnerships Manager Lucy Keith by email at lucykeith@spreadasmile.org or on 020 7482 5191.