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masks

Find out about our North West Hub

 780 400 Hannah Myers
By:

Since expanding our service provision into the North West in 2022, Spread a Smile has been bringing joy, laughter and connection to seriously ill children and young people across the region through regular hospital visits, art initiatives and family support services.

Today, our dedicated North West Hub supports children and families at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, helping to ensure children receiving some of the most specialist treatment in the country have access to the impactful serviced Spread a Smile offers.

Every other week, our entertainers visit both hospitals, delivering personalised bedside visits filled with music, magic, storytelling, bubbles and creativity. These moments of joy provide welcome distraction from treatment, helping to reduce anxiety, combat isolation and create lasting memories for children and their families.

Amy Berry, Visit Manager for the North West, said:

“When I found out that Spread a Smile were hoping to expand their visits up north, I jumped at the chance to offer my help. Developing connections with families has been the most rewarding experience. We often see the same families on visits and seeing their faces light up when we come into the room is beautiful. For the time we’re with them, they have a chance to escape and simply be children again.”

Alongside our entertainer visits, we’re proud to support children receiving treatment at The Christie Proton Beam Therapy Centre, one of only two NHS Proton Beam Therapy centres in the UK treating children and young people with complex cancers . Working alongside hospital teams and the patients themselves, our artist Esther transforms radiotherapy masks into colourful, personalised works of art, helping children feel more comfortable and confident as they prepare for treatment. 

Esther said:

“Painting the masks is very special to me because they can look clinical and intimidating for a child. Having the masks painted with their favourite things makes them personal and comforting. For me, it’s a privilege to work with such an amazing charity and to see the smiles and joy we bring to children and families going through difficult times.”

The impact of Spread a Smile’s work is felt not only by the children and families we support, but also by the hospital teams we work alongside.

Justine Louise Makin, Play Service Manager at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said:

“We would like to say a huge thank you to Spread a Smile for the wonderful input we have received from the charity so far. The kind and generous donations have been invaluable in providing our children and young people with fun and joy during their stay in hospital. Being in hospital is difficult at any time, therefore receiving the amazing toys, activities, materials and equipment that Spread a Smile provide has really put a smile on their faces and helped towards recovery, recuperation and rehabilitation.”

As our North West Hub continues to grow, so does our ambition. We’re committed to expanding our services to reach even more seriously ill children and young people across the region, while building partnerships with local businesses, supporters and communities who share our vision of spreading smiles where they’re needed most.

You can help us achieve our aims in a number of ways:

  • If your company is based in the North West and would like to make a positive impact for families with seriously ill children in your community, we’d love to hear from you. Our partnerships are engaging, unique and built on a mutual understanding of support and success. Reach out to our Partnerships Manager, Rosie Perkins to get the ball rolling –rosie@spreadasmile.org
  • Donate today and help ensure we can continue to deliver our services in the North West and beyond. 
  • Fancy a fundraising challenge? Take a look at ideas to get involved here, or get in touch with our fundraising team at fundraising@spreadasmile.orgto chat about your ideas and plans. 

Whatever you do, you’ll be helping us reach even more seriously ill children, young people and their families during the most difficult times. Thank you.

Bristol radiotherapy mask painting workshop

 780 400 Susie
By:

Spread a Smile delivers some incredible art initiatives for children and young people across our NHS hospital partners, including art workshops which support creativity and distraction and bespoke murals which enrich hospital wards and windows, helping to make the hospital environment more welcoming.

Another important part of the charity’s art programme is the personalisation of radiotherapy masks for children and teenagers going through treatment for brain, head and neck cancer.

The programme is delivered by Spread a Smile’s Head of Art, Marina, who works closely with patients preparing for radiotherapy treatment to find out their interests and how they would like their masks decorated. Sometimes a patient draws their own sketch and then Marina will take the ideas and create a bespoke and individual decoration for the mask. The process helps to make the mask less frightening, and experience shows that the patient often becomes very proud of their mask.

Last month Marina visited Spread a Smile’s NHS hospital partner Bristol Royal Children’s Hospital to deliver a special radiotherapy mask training workshop for oncology play specialists from the hospital. The aim was to share our skills and understanding of this important activity with the team at Bristol to enable to them to support patients under their care with their designs.

Each attendee came with their own radiotherapy mask and Marina shared different techniques and ideas for painting the masks using special posca pens. Everyone chose their own design and painted their own mask, to experience the process for themselves, before engaging in a useful discussion about how the masks and painting can be used as a preparation tool for patients needing the masks, helping to make them less worrying.

Britney Wookey, Oncology Play Specialist at Bristol Royal Children’s Hospital took part in the workshop saying, “It’s been long awaited for us to be able to paint radiotherapy masks and thanks to Spread a smile our patients will be offered to help design and paint their mask if they wish. Radiotherapy can be a scary treatment for a child at first but being able to decorate their mask so it is unique to them will give them a sense of control and choice. We now have band new kit gifted by spread a smile and their lovely artist, Marina, taught us some of her amazing art skills. Now we can’t wait to bring our patient’s ideas to life!”

Spread a Smile is proud of this bespoke area of work which reaches and supports young cancer patients during one of the most terrifying times of their lives. As one Mum said, “My son didn’t mind wearing his mask once it was painted and enjoyed talking with other children about what they had on their masks. He was so proud to show it to people. We now have it home and it is a prized possession on his desk which he proudly shows to everyone who comes in. His mask was his protection, and he was proud of what he had been through.”

To find out more about Spread a Smile’s services, please click here.