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Leicester

Regular visits to Leicester Royal Infirmary

 780 400 Gabrielle Devine
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Since 2020, Spread a Smile has been bringing joy to seriously ill children at Leicester Royal Infirmary, supporting seriously ill children and their families through treat drops and virtual visits. These moments of fun and laughter help brighten long hospital stays and create a sense of normality for children living with serious illness.

We are now thrilled to be expanding our support for young patients at Leicester Royal Infirmary by introducing regular in-person entertainer visits to the wards. Last week, we celebrated the first of these in-person visits, with our talented entertainers Fairy Becca and Nick the magician providing bedside visits and spreading smiles through music, magic and more.

Our entertainer visits are at the heart of what we do at Spread a Smile: providing moments of interaction, fun and distraction and helping to lift what can be a scary time for children and young people in hospital.

Leicester Royal Infirmary is one of Spread a Smile’s 39 NHS hospitals and six hospice partners across the country and we’re very much looking forward to working closely with and supporting their brilliant ward team.

As a charity that receives no government funding, we rely solely on the generosity of our supporters. If you would like to support visits like these, please consider making a donation. Thank you.

First family event outside London

 780 400 Susie
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Last month, as part of Play in Hospital Week 2023, we were proud to organise our first ever family event outside of London.

18 families from Leicester Children’s Hospital and Nottingham Children’s Hospital joined us for a theatre trip to see ‘Peter Pan Goes Wrong’ at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham. It was such a special evening as one of our very own Spread a Smile singers played the role of Tink and Mrs Darling in the show.

Our guests were treated to delicious cupcakes from Lola’s Cupcakes and a goody bag from Hasbro plus a meet and greet with the cast after the show which involved a Q&A. Every family was able to take photos with their favourite cast members and they even got to see the magic of Peter Pan flying!

“I just wanted to message and say a massive thank you for tonight. We all had the best time at Peter Pan Goes Wrong and we appreciate the memories we made tonight so much. I find it overwhelming the kindness shown to our special little warrior. Keep up the hard work as the memories that your charity brings are priceless.” Parent

Laura Walter, Director of Services for Spread a Smile said, “We’re so glad we were able to meet so many of our families in person from Leicester and Nottingham Children’s Hospitals. We have seen first-hand just how important it is for our families to be able to experience these special times outside of hospital and we are delighted that we could bring so much laughter and happiness for a wonderful evening together.”

A huge thank you to all of our families for joining us, Lola’s Cupcakes and Hasbro for their kind donations and the team, cast and crew from Mischief and Peter Pan Goes Wrong for their wonderful support and kindness.

Please click here to find out more about our family events and outings.