Posts Tagged :

LEGO

Beyond Blocks family event

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Earlier this week we teamed up with robotic LEGO company, Beyond Blocks to hold our first ever workshop using LEGO bricks to inspire learning in programming, engineering and design.

10 patients joined us at Chainalysis in Holborn, who generously hosted the event and Andy from Beyond Blocks led the creative session, with guests pairing up and working together to build a robot from LEGO, before using a coding app to bring it to life. They were then set a series of challenges including getting their robot to move forward and backwards, stopping and using a sensor to train the robot to stop when it reached the edge of the table.

Guests were so absorbed by the activities that they didn’t want to stop for lunch, but as soon as they saw the pizzas, snacks and delicious cupcakes from Lola’s cupcakes, the transition was much easier.

After the break, the team came back to face an even bigger challenge where they had to get their robots to manoeuvre around a course, joining their robots together and creating a coding system that allowed the robot to turn corners. The atmosphere in the room was fantastic, especially when one of the tasks was achieved, with cheers and fist pumps galore.

Our family events provide wonderful opportunities for unwell children and their families to spend time together having fun, made possible by our amazing donors, fundraisers and supporters.

Thank you to Chainalysis for hosting us so generously, providing lunch and kindly giving each guest their very own Circuit Cube Space Rover as a going home gift. Also to Beyond Blocks for the brilliant session.

Find out more about our work supporting families with seriously ill children and young people here.

Four family events in five days

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The Spread a Smile team went the extra mile during half-term to support seriously ill children through a variety of brilliant family focussed events, welcoming an incredible 240 children and family member across the week.

The week kicked off on Monday with a special trip to London Zoo with 20 patients and their families – generously sponsored for the second year running by our friends from Downing LLP. Our families got to see lots of amazing animals as they explored the zoo, including three baby lion cubs and some very cute baby gorillas. We had a room hired for the day where our families could return for arts and crafts including animal mask masking and clay modelling as well as entertainment such as facepainting, magic and singing fairies. Lunch was a delicious mix of pizza, sliders and chips plus lots of yummy snacks. Huge thanks to the team at London Zoo for their amazing service and our friends at Downing LLP.

“I just wanted to say thank you for our wonderful day at London Zoo, with a special thank you to the magician and fairies who kept making sure Soph was OK. Soph has had a tough year and I can’t thank you guys enough for making her feel so special.” Angela, Mum to Sophie, aged 9

On the Tuesday, we spent the afternoon at Everyman Cinema in King’s Cross, with 18 patients along with their siblings and family members. Our families were treated to lots of snacks including popcorn and sweet treats whilst being entertained by our fantastic Spread a Smile fairies, magicians and singers. With full bellies, we settled down to watch the adorable film Inside Out 2. And to finish the day, our families left with a brilliant goody bag. As always, a huge thanks to the team at Everyman Kings Cross for being so accommodating and welcoming our families with huge smiles and kindness.

“Thank you for such a lovely trip to the cinema and for accommodating Eva’s friend. Eva had a wonderful time, heart and belly full on leaving” Claire, Mum to Eva, aged 10. 

For Hallowe’en, we took a trip to the beautiful Brunswick Art Gallery in Holborn, with 15 families joining us for a creative workshop with a professional artist whilst being serenaded by a live singer and DJ. The party was in full swing as our guests enjoyed a delicious lunch, cupcakes and sweet treats. They were also able to paint their own pumpkins, have their face painted, enjoy some magic tricks, take part in a Hallowe’en scavenger hunt and design their own tote bag – perfect to carry home all their goodies! A huge thank you to Nicholas Lazari and John Themis from Lazari Investments for helping to make this wonderful event possible.

To round off the week, we spent a wonderful ‘Creative Hospital Play Day’ at LEGO London Hub in London. We were joined by 13 patients and their families, alongside Jenny and Catherine – Health Play Specialists from our NHS hospital partners for loads of fun LEGO building activities including the 6 brick challenge and building a LEGO hospital.

Jenny and Catherine ran a wonderful Teddy Bears Clinic during which families could explore lots of creative hospital play with their teddies. There was also syringe painting and a chance to make x-ray pictures using cotton buds and white paint. Families also enjoyed some delicious snacks, plus magic from one of our amazing Spread a Smile entertainers!

“Thank you very much for organising another fun day at Lego HQ. Toomas had an amazing time (thank you very much for the bunnies!) and really enjoyed all the activities. My son was very impressed with Nick, the magician, and has been practising magic tricks all weekend.” Mum, Johanna

A huge shout out to Ellie and Gary from our Family Events team for organising such a range of brilliant events and activities for the families we support. Events such as these might be the only chance for our families to spend time together away from the stress and worry of hospital stays and treatment plans and we are proud to have spread so many times during the half-term period.

To find out more about our Family Events, how you can support them or sign up to join one, please click here.

LEGO tour for families

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Last month we were delighted to take some of the amazing families supported by Spread a Smile to visit the LEGO Group’s office in London for a very special day out.

12 children and their families joined us for a fun-filled day, kindly hosted by the LEGO Group and including a tour of the offices, engaging LEGO based activities, lunch and magic from Spread a Smile Ambassador Richard Jones.

The day was a huge success with our families enjoying the chance to explore, take in some of the incredible LEGO® brick creations and find out more about the iconic bricks.

“Thank you Spread a Smile for a fabulous event and to all the LEGO London Hub team for giving their time and sharing their passion and knowledge for all things LEGO and play. We felt so very lucky to attend and experience the tour of their fantastic offices.” Claire, Mum to Eva

Experiences such as this make a huge difference to our families, providing special opportunities for togetherness and enjoyment in amongst the worries of serious illness. We are so grateful to the LEGO Group for their continued support and creativity in helping to spread smiles to the children and young people we support.

If you or your company would like to chat about how you can get involved with Spread a Smile and support our vital work, please email us at fundraising@spreadasmile.org

Families join us for special LEGO workshops

 780 400 Susie
By:

Earlier this month we hosted two very special LEGO® workshops for some of the children, young people and families we support.

We were joined by our friends from the LEGO Group for specially crafted sessions, with lots of different activities and building projects using LEGO and DUPLO bricks for our guests to enjoy.

As always, Spread a Smile entertainers joined in the fun with magic, face painting and smiles from Fairy Joanna.

Nearly 30 children and their parents/carers came along, and we are so grateful to the LEGO Group for their continued support and creativity in helping to spread smiles to the families we support.

“Thank you to all the team including the extended LEGO team and performers for the wonderful morning at the LEGO event. You all went to so much effort and Eva had a wonderful time with Joanne the Fairy and Nick the magician.” Claire. Eva’s Mum

Spread a Smile’s 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. They include workshops such as this, alongside theatre trips, tea parties, annual events and much more.

If you or your company would like to chat about how you can get involved with Spread a Smile and support our vital work, please email us at fundraising@spreadasmile.org

A magic Harry Potter LEGO event

 780 400 Susie
By:

Our family events and outings are an important part of Spread a Smile’s work which provide families of seriously ill children with the opportunity to enjoy some special time together and escape the worries of illness and treatment – even if just for a day.

Last month, we were joined by an incredible 22 families for two amazing, fun and magic filled Harry Potter themed LEGO® workshops.

The workshops, hosted by our friends at the LEGO Group, was a great opportunity to get creative. Upon arrival, everyone was ‘sorted’ into their houses, before each group got stuck into a variety of Harry Potter themed activities, including wand making. making their own magic wand to take home with them.

There was so much going on for our families to enjoy including free play LEGO building, arts and crafts, a construction of Diagon Alley and even a game of ‘find Dobby’s socks!’

“We’re so proud to be able to be able to provide such interesting and engaging days out for the families we support. I’ve seen first hand how much enjoyment everyone gets, from being their with parents and siblings and doing something fun together. It really does make everyone smile.” Natalie Donaldson, Spread a Smile Head of Family Events

To find out more about our family outings and events, please take a look here.

Building our partnership with the LEGO Group

 780 400 Susie
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Since beginning our partnership with the LEGO Group last year, we’ve seen some wonderful initiatives take place for our families, including a special LEGO® build for our 10th anniversary dinner centre pieces and a brilliant LEGO® Masterclass last year as part of their ‘Build the Change’ program.

More recently Spread a Smile’s entertainers and Visit Managers took part in a special Play Agent workshop, exploring the importance of play and how to creatively use LEGO® bricks to facilitate play during our hospital visits.

When a child is ill in hospital, so many day-to-day childhood experiences are lost. Our aim is to bring back some of those experiences, taking them into hospital and helping children to smile and escape from what is going on around them for a little while.

Since the workshop, some of our entertainers have been using LEGO® bricks in hospital to help break the ice before sessions, often finding it a useful and relaxed way of introducing ourselves to new patients, particularly some of the older ones, as the bricks act as a great distraction and point of engagement.

We were also delighted to accompany three of the families we support to the LEGO Group’s office in London for a very special all-exclusive tour, during which we enjoyed a fascinating workshop hosted by the LEGO Group and the opportunity to ask questions and find out more about the iconic LEGO® bricks, including the heaviest set and when the first brick was created.

We’re so grateful to the LEGO Group for their continued support and creativity in helping to spread smiles to the seriously ill children we support.

If you or your company would like to chat about how you can get involved with Spread a Smile and support our vital work, please email us at fundraising@spreadasmile.org