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Queen Elizabeth Hospital partnership

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Spread a Smile is delighted to announce a new partnership with Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, part of Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust (LGT). Spread a Smile will be supporting children and young people receiving treatment at the hospital and they, along with their families, are invited to join the Spread a Smile family and benefit from its services.

Spread a Smile’s mission is to bring joy and laughter to as many seriously ill children as possible in NHS hospitals, clinical settings, hospices and homes across the UK. Queen Elizabeth Hospital joins 36 other major and speciality NHS hospitals, and six hospice partners already supported by Spread a Smile, taking the charity one step closer to its aim of spreading smiles to every seriously ill child and young person across the country.

The Spread a Smile team of talented entertainers, including musicians, artists, magicians and therapy dogs, will spend quality time with patients through regular in-person visits to the hospital. In addition, patients and their families will be able to access a range of Spread a Smile support services including virtual sessions, outings and events. All of which supports Spread a Smile’s aim of reaching and supporting as many young people as possible, spreading smiles and a lot of happiness to children undergoing treatment for serious illnesses and their families.

Summer Pavitt, Healthcare Play Specialist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, said: “At LGT, we are excited to partner with the Spread a Smile team. We’ve seen first-hand the amazing difference this charity makes in the lives of our children and young people during challenging times. We’re looking forward to future visits and are grateful for the positive impact they’ve had on our youngest patients.”

Lucy Jackson, Spread a Smile Chief Executive added, “Spread a Smile is proud to be working with the team at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, to support young patients under their care, helping to provide distraction and much needed moments of engagement and fun. We are looking forward to our visits, meeting even more patients, families and staff and spreading as many smiles as possible.”

Find out more about our work here.

Supporting our NHS hospital and hospice partners

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As a charity, our aim is to provide entertainment and support to children struggling with serious and chronic illnesses and conditions. A large part of our work achieving this is by working with NHS hospital and hospice partners to reach children and young people receiving treatment and care in their settings.

We currently work in partnership with 35 NHS hospitals and 6 hospices and in today’s blog, our Director of Services, Laura Walter, shares more about this important area of our work.

“Spread a Smile’s journey started nearly 12 years ago in Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) when our Co-Founders started taking a small team of entertainers in twice a month to visit and provide entertainment to young patients on the wards. It wasn’t long before word of our work spread and demand for our in-hospital services started to grow, leading to expansion into other large specialist children’s hospitals and hospitals offering specialist care for young people such as St Mary’s Hospital, The Evelina Children’s Hospital, University College Hospital (UCLH).

“Being a London based charity, the natural focus for expansion has been London and surrounding areas and our partnerships have often started with approaches by hospitals for support, to compliment existing play services and help fill gaps in resource to provide children with distraction and opportunities for play. 

“When the Covid pandemic hit, we were no longer able to go into hospital to visit children in person. This was devastating for everyone involved and at a time where children in hospital needed play opportunities, support, and distraction more than ever before. So, we quickly started to offer our services virtually – initially to our hospital partners and any children struggling with illness who needed support. As a result, this has led us to expand our services beyond London to larger specialist children’s hospitals across England such as Bristol Royal Hospital for Children and Nottingham Children’s Hospital, offering virtual entertainment that can be accessed from anywhere.

“In recent years, we have also started to support smaller District General Hospitals around London, prioritising those with Paediatric Oncology Shared Care Units (POSCU). These hospitals often don’t have access to the same resources and support in areas such as play and entertainment. Our aim is to provide a regular touchpoint for young patients coming through these hospitals, giving them ways to access our services should they be referred somewhere else or need us virtually. 

“Going forward, demand for our services is ever growing and we have spent time over the past few months looking at this need and how we can provide the best support with the most impact. As we head into 2025/26, we’ll be focussing on equalising support across our London based specialist hospitals and continuing to try and reach as many children and young people as possible with serious and chronic illnesses in this area. We know from experience, that this is where our work can have the most impact.  We will also continue to support our current 6 hospice and District General Hospital partners.

“Beyond that, we’ll be developing our work supporting specialist children’s hospitals across the country with the aim of eventually supporting every one of these settings in England. This piece of work has already started with our work in the North West providing in person visits monthly to The Christie Hospital in Manchester and we are looking forward to expanding into two more hospitals in the North West over the coming year.

“When we visit a hospital, although the partnership may focus on supporting the most seriously unwell children, no child is ever left out. Our entertainers can be found singing to children in reception areas, waiting for general appointments, doing magic tricks for parents in waiting rooms and generally spreading smiles to any child visiting a hospital.

“Our plan is to do what we do now as well as possible and to maximum effect. Then as we grow as a charity we’re excited to reach into new areas and new parts of the country, spreading the Spread a Smile magic to as many families that need us as possible.”

To stay up to date about our plans and work, please sign up to our monthly e-newsletter. We’d also love to hear from you if you or your company can support or fundraise for us in any way. Email the team today at fundraising@spreadasmile.org

Thank you.

Bristol radiotherapy mask painting workshop

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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.

Rennie Grove Peace Hospice – New partner

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Spread a Smile today announces its newest hospice partner, Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care, which provides specialist support for children with life-limiting illness and their families across Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

The Spread a Smile team of talented entertainers, including musicians, artists and therapy dogs, will support events for the children and their families at Rennie Grove Peace, spending quality time with patients and helping to spread smiles through music, magic, singing and more.

Children and young people supported by Rennie Grove Peace will also be able to join in with fun and exciting experiences and seasonal Spread a Smile initiatives such as Christmas activities and treat drops, all with the aim of spreading smiles and a lot of happiness to children undergoing treatment and care for serious illness, alongside their families.

Spread a Smile’s mission is to bring joy and laughter to as many seriously ill children as possible in NHS hospitals, clinical settings, hospices and homes across the UK.  Rennie Grove Peace joins four other hospices, and 32 major and speciality NHS hospitals already supported by Spread a Smile, taking the charity one step closer to its aim, to spread smiles across the whole of the UK.

Karen Raney-Marr, Play Specialist at Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care, says: “We’re delighted to be partnering with Spread a Smile to bring new and exciting experiences to our young patients and families. The importance of play in supporting young patients with a life-limiting diagnosis can’t be overstated.  Allowing children and families to connect through play and make precious memories can make a huge difference and is something we focus on with the young people we support. We look forward to working with Spread a Smile to continue and grow this work in Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire.”

Laura Walter, Spread a Smile Director of Services added, “Rennie Grove Peace is a very special charity and we are delighted to be working with their wonderful team to help bring some joy and laughter to the children and families. Earlier this month Spread a Smile entertainers, Sar with her guitar and Fairy Francesca, visited the hospice to meet some of the children and their families, helping to spread smiles with singing, music and bubbles. It was a very special day and we are looking forward to many more in the future.” 

To find out more about Spread a Smile’s work in NHS hospitals and hospices across the country, please click here.

New partner – West Middlesex University Hospital

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Spread a Smile today announces its latest hospital partner, West Middlesex University Hospital, part of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust which cares for people in west London, serving patients from London Boroughs of Hounslow, Richmond Upon Thames and Ealing.

Spread a Smile works closely with teams who treat seriously ill children and young people receiving treatment for a range of everyday to highly complex conditions and illnesses. These patients, along with their families are invited to join the Spread a Smile family and benefit from their services.

Spread a Smile’s mission is to bring joy and laughter to as many seriously ill children as possible in NHS hospitals, clinical settings, hospices and homes across the UK.  West Middlesex University Hospital joins 31 other major and speciality NHS hospitals and four hospice partners already supported by Spread a Smile, taking the charity one step closer to its aim.

The Spread a Smile team of talented entertainers, including musicians, artists, magicians and therapy dogs, will spend quality time with patients in hospital through monthly in-person visits. Patients and their families will also be able to access weekly virtual group activity sessions, including art clubs, magic, storytelling and more, enabling the charity to see and support as many people as possible. All with the aim of spreading hundreds of smiles and a lot of happiness to children undergoing treatment for serious illnesses and their families.

Children at West Middlesex University Hospital will also be able to join special themed virtual activity days celebrating seasonal occasions during school holidays and half-term, benefit from regular treat drops and enjoy entertainer visits scheduled throughout the year, all giving seriously ill children and their families the opportunity to join in with fun and exciting experiences that they may otherwise not have access to.

Simii Dhupar, Senior Health Play Specialist at West Middlesex University Hospital said, “Spread a Smile do such an amazing and fantastic job, bringing smiles to patients’ faces during their time in hospital. Whether it’s by visiting the wards to distract and entertain them, joining our patient parties to spread more joy, or providing online sessions so patients in isolation can still join in and don’t miss out. Spread a Smile’s support is amazing and the range of talented people who work hard in front of and behind the scenes just to make a child or young person smile is truly brilliant. We cannot thank them enough for all the joy and laughter they bring.”

Lucy Jackson, Spread a Smile Chief Executive added, “Spread a Smile is delighted to be working with West Middlesex University Hospital, their Play Team and wider ward teams to help bring moments of joy and distraction to seriously ill children and young people at the hospital. It is our privilege to help make a difference during some of the most difficult times for these families and are very much looking forward to doing what we can to spread smiles when they are needed most.” 

To find out more about Spread a Smile’s work spreading smiles to seriously ill children and their families across our NHS hospital and hospice partners, please click here.

Festive Smile Hamper Appeal 2023

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Christmas is always a busy time of year for Spread a Smile because it’s a time when the families we support need us most. For children and young people battling serious or terminal illness, Christmas can mean time spent in hospital, undergoing treatment and separated from family and friends.

Please join us in our mission to bring the magic of Christmas and as much joy and laughter as possible to the thousands of children we support and their families as we send out over 1,400 personalised Smile Hampers for children and their siblings. A Smile Hamper is a complimentary gift box containing a selection of toys, games and treats. Each hamper is personalised and handpicked for each child.

Please donate £25 to help fund a Smile Hamper for a seriously ill child or their sibling.

“Folakemi’s heart condition is life-limiting and as she grows we just don’t know what will happen. Spread a Smile shines a little light through all the worry and darkness, particularly at Christmas time. Folakemi and her sister Temitope are so looking forward to receiving their Smile Hampers. The excitement and joy are wonderful and it brings a tear to my eye watching them laugh and unwrap their gifts. It means the world to all of us.” Anita, Folakemi and Temitope’s Mum

The children we support deserve a special treat and with your help, we can give them just that. Please give what you can and help us reach every family who needs us with a little bit of Spread a Smile joy this festive season. Thank you.

Announcing two new NHS hospital partners

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Spread a Smile today announces its latest hospital partner, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust which cares for people in south west London and north east Surrey. Spread a Smile will work closely with two of its hospitals, Epsom Hospital and Queen Mary’s Hospital for Children. Both sites treat seriously ill children and young people receiving treatment for a range of everyday and highly complex and specialist conditions and illnesses. These patients, along with their families are invited to join the Spread a Smile family and benefit from their services.

Chloe Smith, Ward Manager – Casey Ward, Epsom Hospital said of the partnership, “Currently on Casey Ward there are 16 children of all ages that are feeling poorly and the look on the children’s faces when Spread a Smile visits the ward is so special, it is truly priceless. It gives the children and their families a lift and offers some positivity during these difficult times.”

Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust joins 29 other major and speciality NHS hospitals and three hospice partners already supported by Spread a Smile. The Spread a Smile team of talented entertainers, including musicians, artists, magicians and therapy dogs, will spend quality time with patients in hospital through one-to-one visits and group sessions. Patients and their families will also be able to access virtual online events and activity sessions, including art clubs, balloon modelling, music lessons and more, enabling the charity to see and support as many people as possible. All with the aim of spreading hundreds of smiles and a lot of happiness to children undergoing treatment for serious illness and their families.

Children at both Epsom Hospital and Queen Mary’s Hospital for Children will also be able to join special themed virtual activity days, via iPad, celebrating seasonal occasions such as Christmas, benefit from regular treat drops and enjoy entertainer visits scheduled throughout the year, all giving seriously ill children and their families the opportunity to join in with fun and exciting experiences that they may otherwise not have access to.

Lucy Jackson, Spread a Smile Chief Executive added, “We are delighted to be working with Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust to provide support for children and young people at both Epsom Hospital and Queen Mary’s Hospital for Children. During our monthly in-person visits to each hospital, our entertainers will be spreading smiles around the wards to as many seriously ill children and their families as possible. We are looking forward to supporting the hospital teams to bring a much needed distraction to patients under their care.”

To find out more about our work and hospital / hospice partners, please click here.

Croydon University Hospital. May Chu with Spread a Smile team

Croydon University Hospital collaboration

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Today Spread a Smile announces its newest collaboration with Croydon University Hospital to help spread smiles of joy to seriously ill patients under their care.

Patients and families across the Paediatric Unit, Oncology Clinic and inpatient and outpatients wards will now be able to access the many vital services that Spread a Smile provides, such as in-person entertainer visits as well as visits done virtually, suiting to the patient’s needs.

Working closely with hospital staff and play teams, we aim to spread joy and laughter at the most difficult times, providing opportunities for connection and distraction from treatment and illness. Croydon University Hospital joins the Spread a Smile family alongside the 25 other NHS hospitals and 2 hospices nationwide.

By collaborating together, we aim to help seriously ill children who are on their road to recovery with entertainment, smiles and laughter. The Spread a Smile team will spend quality time with patients, as well as running holiday themed virtual events and entertainment. Virtual visits alongside face-to-face sessions allow the team to see as many patients as possible, all with the aim of spreading hundreds of smiles at the hospital every single year.

The collaboration will add to the work already accomplished by the Croydon Health Charity, which continually raises funds to enhance the patient experience for Croydon’s sick children and young people.

Children will be invited to join weekly virtual group hospital sessions with Spread a Smile entertainers, take part in themed activity days when celebrating events like Easter and Christmas, giving children and their families many opportunities to join in with other activities, including family days out. Families of long-term patients will also be able to book one-on-one sessions.

May Chu, Senior Healthcare Play Specialist at Croydon University Hospital said, “Spread a Smile never fails to bring happiness and joy to our patients and staff. We always look forward to showing them around. The time and effort they take for each patient is really appreciated.”

Lucy Jackson, Spread a Smile Chief Executive added, “We are delighted to be providing monthly in-person entertainer visits. We know that our visits help patients cope better with the hospital environment and allow them to feel less isolated. 

“Our support to the young oncology patients is all about making their experience in hospital a more positive one and distracting them from challenging treatments and procedures. We look forward to more in-person visits with our team of entertainers in the future.”  

Please consider making a donation to help us continue our vital work supporting seriously ill children in hospital. Thank you.

UCLH

Partner Focus – UCLH

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Spread a Smile has been supporting and working with UCLH (University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) for nearly 10 years through regular in person visits, online sessions, treat drops and much more.

The Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals, is one of UCLH’s specialist hospitals, with the Paediatric Dentistry Unit sees complex patients for whom a typical dental visit in primary care would be difficult. Since November 2022 in partnership with the hospital we have been trialing the use of therapy dogs to provide support for patients visiting the Unit to help reduce anxiety and stress.

We spoke to Paul Ashley, Professor/Honorary Consultant, Paediatric Dentistry about how this exciting new initiative is providing invaluable support for patients who would otherwise find a visit to the unit particularly challenging.

What was the reasoning behind involving Spread a Smile at the Paediatric Dentistry Unit?

“I was a committee member on the NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) guidance – ‘Babies, children and young people’s experience of healthcare’. It was clear from some of the focus group work carried out with children that therapy animals were really important to them. So, following this feedback, I decided to work with Spread a Smile to see how therapy dogs could help in our Unit.”

How does the initiative work practically?

UCLH - Patient with Thomas“The Spread a Smile team currently work with the families to help reduce stress and worry whilst they are waiting in the waiting room before a procedure. When the patient arrives, they are met by Thomas or Harry, one of the Spread a Smile’s Therapy Dogs, along with one of the Spread a Smile Entertainers. They stay with the patient in the waiting room, building up a rapport. They might sing or talk together and the therapy dog provides a soothing distraction for the child as they stroke their fur and pet them. It helps to calm the patient (and any family members) and reduce anxiety in the lead up to the procedure they are there for. “In the longer term we would like the Spread a Smile team to also then follow patients through into the treatment area to continue to support the child whilst any dental procedures are taking place.”

How have Spread a Smile helped to make a positive difference for patients?

“In general, the ‘vibe’ in the waiting room is lovely when we have the Spread a Smile team here. Everyone looks forward to their visits – staff as well as patients. They help provide a calmer, more fun environment which can only be of benefit to the patients and their families. The therapy dogs are a welcome distraction.”

Generally Spread a Smile supports our delivery of high-quality care for our patients, improving the experience for both patient and dentist.”

Please help us continue our vital work spreading smiles to children in hospital by donating today. Thank you. 

The Royal London Hospital Eye Club

Partner Focus – The Royal London Hospital

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This week’s ‘Partner Focus’ features The Royal London Hospital in East London which includes one of the largest children’s hospitals in the UK. It’s specialist Eye Treatment Centre is the only centre in the south of England (and one of only two in the country) that can screen, diagnose and treat Retinoblastoma (a form of eye cancer).

Spread a Smile has been supporting staff and children and young people on the wards for a number of years. Alongside regular in person bi-monthly visits from our entertainers and the usual treat drops and online offering, we recently supported their ‘Eye Club’ and ‘Sib Squad’. The club welcomes children with artificial eyes so they can meet, make friends and learn how to look after their eyes.

We spoke to Gemma Melisi, Play Specialist at The Royal London Hospital about how Spread a Smile is supporting these amazing children initiative.

What is your role as a hospital Play Specialist?

“A Play Specialist uses therapeutic play to support and inform children and young people during a hospital visit, helping them to cope in an environment that can be quite scary. Through play, we give children an outlet to work through their anxiety and stress. We use friendly and comforting toys and medical equipment to help children through unfamiliar events and help to provide distraction during procedures.

“I am based in the Retinoblastoma (RB) service and support children who have RB. Sometimes a child might need to have an artificial eye and through play we aim to make this easier for the patient and family, including a sibling day called ‘Sib Squad’ where we help create positive memories by making scrapbooks.  

How does Spread a Smile support your work?

The Royal London Hospital Eye Club

The Royal London Hospital Eye Club

“Spread a Smile send in their amazing people and entertainers to help support the children at Eye Club. The children had so much fun with the Spread a Smile team and really enjoyed the day.

“I love working with Spread a Smile and everyone always looks forward to their visit. They bring so much joy to the children, families and wards and offer a great distraction to a hospital stay/visit.  Spread a Smile always brings that smile! They allow the children and staff to escape from what can be a really difficult time. We really can’t thank Spread a Smile enough for your support. Keep up the amazing work and we can’t wait to do it all again soon!”

Please help us continue our vital work spreading smiles to children in hospital by donating today. Thank you. 

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