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mildreds

Mildreds Half Marathon challenge for Ari

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This October, Mildreds Managing Director, Sam Anstey, along with fellow team members, family and friends are kindly taking on the Royal Parks Half Marathon for Spread a Smile in memory of Sam’s daughter, Ari.

So far, the team has raised an incredible £12,000 and counting with Sam saying,

“Spread a Smile was incredibly special to Ari and to our whole family. During some of the hardest times of her illness, they brought moments of happiness, laughter and normality when we needed them most. I am running the Royal Parks Half Marathon with close friends and some of the Mildreds team in memory of our special Ari and to raise money so Spread a Smile can continue doing the same for other children and families. Ari was our light, and it means so much to us to be doing this in her memory.”

Plant based restaurant group Mildreds has partnered with Spread a Smile since 2022, hosting regular tea parties for seriously ill children and their families supported by the charity. These events provide valuable opportunities for our families to experience enjoyable days out together, making memories, having fun and meeting others going through similar experiences.

Taking their training for the half marathon seriously, the Mildreds team organised ‘Fuelled By Mildreds: The Spread a Smile Run Club’, a series of 5km runs in partnership with social media influencers Issy and Calum Sedgwick-Goddard from Stay In It.

Fundraising Executive, Rimi Char said, “We are so grateful to the Mildreds team – Sam, Shaun, Michelle, Mandy, Danny, Talia and Michael – for all their support, training and fundraising efforts. The Spread a Smile Run Club is such a great way of motivating runners, helping them with their running aims and generally enjoying the training experience together. The team’s efforts serve as a wonderful tribute to beautiful Ari.

“This year, we will welcome our largest team of runners for the Royal Parks Half Marathon with over 70 taking on the challenge to help raise as much as possible to support our work spreading smiles to seriously ill children and young people. Thank you to team Mildreds and every single one of our runners for going the extra mile for Spread a Smile.”

Find out more about joining Team Smile for one of our upcoming challenges:

Mildreds and Sister Act for our VIPs

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When you’re looking for a memorable experience in London, then dinner followed by a trip to see a West End musical is definitely top of the list. Last week, we treated some of the families supported by Spread a Smile to just that.

We began the party at Mildreds Restaurant in Covent Garden where not only did our families get to enjoy a delicious vegan dinner, they were also entertained throughout with singing, amazing magic, face painting, arts and crafts and our gorgeous therapy dog Buddy, who also came for some cuddles.

After our tummies were full, we headed down to a very special relaxed performance of Sister Act The Musical at London’s Dominion Theatre. The excitement filled the auditorium as everyone relaxed into their seats and enjoyed the amazing show, featuring a star-studded cast. One of guests, Evie, aged 13 was so excited to see actor Ruth Jones perform as she is a big fan of hers and said after the show: “Ruth definitely waved at me!” with a smile from ear to ear.

Evie’s Mum Jo said, “Honestly, thank you from the bottom of my heart. The work you do is just amazing and I’m not sure that thank you is enough for the happiness my girl is feeling right now.”

Viktoria, mum of Emily (13) also said, “We would love to tell you how wonderful you all are! Thank you for all your hard work and lovely smiles to make so many little lives happy. We had a wonderful time with you all and special thank you to the magician Nick, he really blew our minds with his amazing magic!”

We are so grateful to our friends at Mildreds for their continued and generous support and to everyone at the Dominion Theatre for making us so welcome.

Spread a Smile completely relies on donations and support from generous individuals and organisations to fund family events such as this. Please donate here to help ensure we can continue to provide this support for many more families. Thank you.

Mildreds May afternoon tea treat

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Last week, our friends from Mildreds Restaurants welcomed Spread a Smile and some of the amazing families we support for another wonderful afternoon tea.

Six families joined us at Mildreds in Covent Garden, London, enjoying a delicious vegan spread and entertainment from Mr Magic and face painting by Marina, our Head of Art. Spread a Smile Co-Founder Josephine Segal also joined in the fun along with her therapy dog, Buddy.

We are extremely grateful to everyone at Mildreds Restaurants for their ongoing support through their monthly tea parties, alongside other incredible initiatives. They provide a wonderful opportunity for seriously ill children to enjoy an afternoon out with their families and forget about the worries of illness and hospitals for a while. Outings like this are a welcome chance for respite and fun.

Sam Anstey, Managing Director at Mildreds said, ‘We are proud to be working with such a special charity. Spread a Smile do amazing work and all our teams are so pleased to be able to support them. It has been great to be involved and to experience the impact that Spread a Smile have in helping others.’

Please consider making a donation to help ensure Spread a Smile can continue to provide outings such as these, spreading joy and happiness when it’s needed most. Thank you.