Posts Tagged :

spread a smile

The Clarkson Foundation funds hospital visits

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As a charity which doesn’t receive any government funding, we rely completely on the support of companies, organisations and individuals to fund our vital work spreading smiles to seriously ill children and their families.

One such organisation is The Clarkson Foundation, which last year made a generous donation to enable Spread as Smile to make 120 hospital visits, helping to spread smiles to over 1,900 children and their families.

Lucy Jackson, Chief Executive for Spread a Smile said, “Donations from Trusts and Foundations specifically enable us to directly fund certain areas of our work, ensuring the continuation of those services into the future. We are extremely grateful to The Clarkson Foundation for helping us to reach so many children in hospital and their families when they need us most.”

The Clarkson Foundation aims to make a tangible difference and a lasting impact across communities through meaningful grant-giving to causes that they feel passionate about. In the run-up to Christmas 2023, The Clarkson Foundation further extended their support to us by funding the purchase of presents to send out to the children and families over Christmas time.

Dharani Sridharan, Trustee of The Clarkson Foundation said, “We are incredibly proud to be supporting Spread a Smile and their commitment to deliver joy to young patients and their families. The energy and positivity that Spread a Smile provides is inspirational and we hope it brings the children and their families some enjoyment and support them.”

A huge thank you to all our friends at The Clarkson Foundation for their kindness and support. We couldn’t do what we do without you.

If you are part of a Trust or Foundation, or know of one that might be able to support Spread a Smile, we’d love to hear from you. Please do reach out at fundraising@spreadasmile.org – thank you.

Royal Parks Half Marathon places

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Don’t miss out on your chance to snap up a place on Team Smile for the Royal Parks Half Marathon on Sunday 13 October.

Last year 67 runners joined us to take on the beautiful 13.1-mile course on closed roads and within four of London’s eight Royal Parks – Hyde Park, The Green Park, St James’s Park and Kensington Gardens.

This was our largest team to date including some of our amazing supporters and fundraisers from the Corinthia Hotel, Mishcon de Reya, Hamilton Court Foreign Exchange, Downing LLP, Blackrock and Convex Insurance.

“What an incredible day to be part of. I loved every second of it and running in aid of Spread a Smile made it all the more special. It was an emotional endurance text which I would 100% do all over again.” Natalie Donaldson, Spread a Smile supporter

This year, we’re excited to be returning to this brilliant event and hope that our supporters will get in touch to be part of something really special.

Register today!

Event date: Sunday 13 October
Registration fee: £30
Minimum sponsorship: £500 (excluding Gift Aid)

Course: Gentle undulations but generally flat course, making it fantastic for both beginners and experienced runners.

Please get in touch with Rimi at rimi@spreadasmile.org for a chat or if you have any questions.

Smash Arts ‘Technicolour’ triumph

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On the evening of Saturday 17 February, Smash Arts Theatre Company took to the stage at the Centenary Theatre, Berkhamsted School in aid of Spread a Smile for a very special performance of Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.

However, this was no ordinary production, as the cast and crew only found out 24-hours before taking to the stage on Saturday night which musical they would be performing. With everyone finding out their roles and rehearsals starting at 7.30pm on Friday 16 February, the team embarked on the huge challenge of staging the show in 24 hours, with limited time to sleep and working solidly through the night and resulting in a magnificent and joy-filled performance of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.

As audience member Karen Jordan said, “It really was truly amazing and the talent of all the boy/girls/men/women taking part was outstanding. Their personalities shone through and the way they interacted with the audience was brilliant and just showed how professional they all are. I could have watched it for another hour, two, three, four hours more… in fact I could have watched it all night long. It was brilliant!”

The Smash Arts team and cast raised an incredible £15,927.31 to support Spread a Smile’s work bringing joy and laughter to seriously ill children in NHS hospitals and hospices across the country, with Smash Arts Co-Founder Alex Williams saying, “This was a challenge we will not forget for a long time, an experience for the entire Smash family to support an incredible cause. And what a show it was! I think we can safely say many smiles were spread and many tears shed on Saturday night, but every minute of tiredness was worth it for the final outcome.”

Smash Arts Theatre company was formed in 2020 by co-founders Alex Williams and Dani Acors with Dani also being a regular member of the Spread a Smile team of entertainers, using her performing talents to spread smiles across Spread a Smile’s hospital and hospice partners.

Dani said, “This has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my entire life. Joseph is a very special show for me, so to combine that with working with an incredibly talented group of friends to create something so magical in such a short space of time for a charity so very close to my heart, is not only a privilege but an honour I will keep close with me forever.”

There was a magical atmosphere in the air as the evening unfolded, with the audience cheering and clapping at every opportunity and the performers obviously enjoying the experience as much as the audience, with everyone coming together for a standing ovation at the end and a final rendition of ‘Any Dream will Do.’

Lucy Jackson Spread a Smile Chief Executive said, “We are extremely grateful to everyone at Smash Arts Theatre Company – Dani, Alex, the cast, and crew – Berkhamsted School and everyone who bought tickets and supported this brilliant event for doing so much and helping to raise such an incredible amount for Spread a Smile. The show was an absolute triumph, and we feel proud to be the chosen charity for such an uplifting, positive, creative and empowering initiative.”

Thank you, Dani, Alex and everyone at Smash Arts Theatre Company.

Supporter Nick Stewart takes on Hyrox

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Nick Stewart is a Climate Change & CFO Leader at Baringa Partners and joined the Spread a Smile Business Committee in 2023 to help explore new fundraising and awareness for the charity. We spoke to Nick about how he became involved with Spread a Smile and his Hyrox fundraising challenge which raised £3,000 to help spread smiles to the families we support.

“A good friend of mine, Mark London who sits on Spread a Smile’s Business Committee, first introduced me to the charity. I’d been working with Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) for a number of years and when I met Lucy Jackson, Spread a Smile’s Chief Executive, I realised the connection between the two charities, as Spread a Smile entertainers regularly visit GOSH to spread smiles across the wards.  I’ve seen firsthand the difference Spread a Smile’s entertainers make in hospital and the impact is huge. I was looking to give a bit more time to charities that I feel passionately about, and this felt like the perfect fit.

“I was delighted to join Spread a Smile’s Business Committee and really enjoyed my first meeting. We’re in the process of setting our plans and developing ways to support Spread a Smile and raise vital funds and awareness. It’s exciting to think of the difference we will help make. I’ve spent a lot of the last five years working in the environmental, social and governance (ESG) arena, so I’m hoping to bring a good network across the city to support our aims.

“I also decided to fundraise for the charity and was already signed up to Hyrox, a global fitness race which is quite intense and designed to test your overall body strength and fitness. It’s a real challenge, so seemed perfect. I trained with a group of friends from my gym, Roam Athletics, and we all took part in Hyrox at the ExCel Centre, London back in November. It was the most excruciating and challenging activity I’ve done, both mentally and physically, but I really enjoyed it and I’m hoping to sign up again. I was delighted to raise £3,000 in total and am extremely grateful to all my friends and colleagues for supporting me. I was pleased to finish in one hour 22 as the World Record is  just under one hour.

“Alongside the fundraising, I also joined the team in December at the Spread a Smile office to help pack up their Christmas Hampers. It was great to meet the wider team and really get a feel for the work they are doing and the difference they are making. I’m so glad to be a part of that and am very much looking forward to next steps and what lies ahead for this brilliant charity.”

A huge thank you to Nick for his incredible commitment and support. If you are interested in finding out how you or your company can support Spread a Smile and help spread smiles to seriously ill children and their families, please get in touch by email today. We’ll look forward to hearing from you.

Mr Magic spreads smiles around the world

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Spread a Smile’s entertainers do an incredible job, spreading laughter and joy to seriously ill children and their families in NHS hospitals and hospices and through our events and virtual visits.

One such entertainer is Mr Magic – one of the very first entertainers to join Co-Founders, Josephine Segal and Vanessa Crocker when they set up Spread a Smile over 10 years ago. Today Mr Magic remains a firm favourite amongst the families we support and is much loved as he spreads smiles across hospital wards and at Spread a Smile events.

“Jack loved Mr Magic and all the Spread a Smile magicians. The consistency of seeing them in different hospitals really helped him to cope with his illness and treatment. During Proton Beam Therapy, we stay away from home for over 6 weeks and feel really isolated. Our Spread a Smile visits helped us to meet other families and really gave us something to look forward to.” Jodie, Jack’s Mum

Recently, Spread a Smile filmed Mr Magic in action at one of their NHS hospital partners, performing some of his brilliant magic tricks for a young patient on the ward. After posting the film to the charity’s social media accounts to highlight the difference our entertainers make to the children they meet, the film went viral on Instagram, being viewed over 1.3million times and liked by over 115,000 accounts. The reaction of the child in the film speaks for itself, showing just how important Spread a Smile’s work is.

Spread a Smile currently supports 32 NHS hospitals and four hospices across the country, reaching thousands of children and their families every year. We also reach hundreds more through our virtual sessions and in-person family events, making sure our families have access to our services wherever they may be.  It is our mission to grow and reach even more hospitals and families, spreading smiles to seriously ill children and young people during some of the most difficult times of their lives.

To share in the Spread a Smile ‘Mr Magic magic’, you can watch the film here or below. Please do share as far and wide as possible and help us reach even more families when they need us most.

If you would like to make a donation to support our work, please follow this link. Just £26 could help pay for an entertainer like Mr Magic to visit a seriously child in hospital, spreading smiles and happiness.

To get involved, fundraise or find out how you or your company can support Spread a Smile, please email the team at fundraising@spreadasmile.org – we’d love to hear from you. You can also sign up to our e-newsletter to stay up-to-date with our work, fundraising activities.

Thank you so much for your support.

Our new Director of Strategy and Operations

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We are delighted to welcome Roxane Caplan to the Spread a Smile family as our new Director of Strategy and Operations. Roxane will be working closely with our Chief Executive and Director of Services to drive the charity’s strategic growth plans, whilst ensuring we maintain our high level of service and reach as many seriously ill children and young people across the country as possible. 

Roxane joins us with over 20 years’ work experience gained in both private and voluntary sectors, spanning marketing and fundraising, campaigns and communications, operations, service development and delivery, strategy and change management and senior leadership. Her last few roles have focused on helping small to medium sized charities grow, developing new organisational strategies with service users at the core, growing reach and impact. Most recently, Roxane’s role as Head of Services for the charity YoungMinds saw her transform their service structure, practice, and processes, enabling greater reach and growth.

Roxane said, “I am passionate about supporting children and their families and feel privileged to work for a charity that is dedicated to supporting seriously ill children and young people, either during hospital stays or at home through its range of brilliant services.  

“During my first week at Spread a Smile, I was lucky enough to be able to join a visit to Great Ormond Street Hospital with charity Co-Founder Josephine Segal, and magician Paul. I witnessed the joy their work brought to a diverse range of children, some as young as 18 months, facilitating socialisation and connection, creating happy moments and memories with their families. Within minutes of meeting our team, I saw children smile and relax despite the obvious pain and challenging circumstances they find themselves in. I could see the obvious difference Spread a Smile was making, improving wellbeing and self-esteem and making hospital stays less isolating and frightening.

“I am very much looking forward to working with the brilliant Spread a Smile team to see how we can do even more to help and support when and where we are needed most.” 

Lucy Jackson, Spread a Smile Chief Executive said, “The demand for Spread a Smile’s services is forever growing and it is our aim to be there for as many families who need us as possible. We are delighted that Roxane has joined us to help us do just that and to ensure that we continue to grow, achieve and succeed, fulfilling our charitable aims to the highest possible standard.”

Welcome to the Spread a Smile family Roxane.

Join our team! Spread a Smile is also currently recruiting for a Community Fundraising Manager and a Trusts Fundraising Manager.

If you are a professional entertainer and interested in joining our team, please click here for further information on the role and our online application form. We would love to hear from you!

Our amazing 2024 Winter Party

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On Saturday 13 January we held our Winter Party at St Mary’s Marylebone London.

It was an incredible day which saw us welcome over 320 of the children and young people we support including their families and some of our colleagues from our NHS hospital partners. Due to the Covid pandemic, it was the first time we’d held a winter party since 2019. 

CREDIT: Suzan Moore

Held over two floors, this very special family event was packed full of different stalls and activities for our VIP guests to enjoy, run by the Spread a Smile team and over 60 brilliant volunteers.  There was something for everyone including gingerbread house making, a sweet stall, nail art, face painting, play doh, glitter tattoos, friendship bracelet making, teddy bear t-shirt and tote bag decorating, storytelling and pizza making.

“The Spread a Smile Winter Party was awesome. So many great activities for the kids to do and everyone volunteering was so kind. Hugo loved the play doh table and spent ages on the gingerbread house table too. Thank you so much for a fantastic day of treats and such a magical day. Hugo will be talking about this day for a long, long time.” Morgan, Hugo’s Mum

We were joined by All About Anna’s Animals who brought along some gorgeous animals to hold and learn more about. Our friends from the LEGO Group were on hand with a table full of LEGO® for everyone to get creative building and playing games and there was storytelling in the beautiful snow dome from The UK Dome Company. Guests also enjoyed fun on our bumper cars, a VR experience  from Bryght Ltd, a Silent Disco thanks to Silent Event, fancy dress and keepsake photos from Polabooth UK, plus a truly slimy slime making experience with Slime Planet.

CREDIT: Suzan Moore

Our brilliant team of Spread a Smile entertainers joined us to fill the day with music, singing, dancing, bubbles, magic, poetry and much more.

We were treated to a very special interactive performance from Embracing Arts, who put on a fantastic interactive theatre show and our very own Anna from Frozen welcomed children to the stage for a dance and a sing-a-long. Plus our Therapy Dogs Thomas and Harry loved meeting guests. 

To keep everyone going, we put on food and treats galore, including Sushi rolls from SushiDog, delicious pizzas from Pizza Pilgrims and yummy cupcakes from our friends at Lola’s Cupcakes and Brigit’s Bakery. We also made sure parents and carers were given a special self-care moment with hand massages, aromatherapy and a team of hairdressers.

We are extremely proud to deliver days such as this for the families we support and it was lovely to see so many of them relaxing and meeting the team and other families. We were also delighted to welcome our Ambassador Suzi Ruffell and our Trustees to share in the magic of this very special day.

CREDIT: Suzan Moore

We can’t thank our wonderful volunteers enough for giving up their time to make the day possible, plus all of our generous corporate supporters who donated supplies, food and drink. Thank you to our friends from BlackRock, Bregal Milestone, Brigit’s Bakery, Hasbro, C. Hoare & Co, the LEGO Group, LMAC Group, Lola’s Cupcakes, Opticore, Rotary Club, Sidekick Management and McVities, for their generous support of this event. In particular to Children with Cancer UK and the Children’s Welfare and Research Foundation whose support made the event possible. 

Thank you to all of our friends, families and colleagues for joining us and making our Winter Party 2024 one to remember. Watch this space for details of our Summer Party.

To help ensure we can continue to spread smiles to seriously ill children and young people, please donate here. Thank you.

If you would like to find out about attending our family events in the future, please register for our services and sign up to receive our Family Newsletter here.

Photos Credit: Suzan Moore

Constellia new partnership

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We are delighted to announce a new partnership with Constellia, a leading procurement specialist for the public and private sector in the UK.

As a procurement partner to the NHS and the wider public sector, Constellia understands the enormous pressures the NHS faces daily when it comes to time and resources to deliver lifesaving work. By choosing Spread a Smile as its nominated charity of the year for 2024, Constellia hopes it can in some small way help Spread a Smile to bring precious moments of joy to seriously ill children, teenagers and their families.

The partnership will include volunteering opportunities, financial contributions and providing us with a platform to showcase our work to Constellia’s dynamic marketplace of suppliers and clients.

To kick off the partnership, Constellia’s team joined forces with Spread a Smile and their social value partners at whatimpact.com for a heartwarming day of packing “Smile Hampers.” These hampers, filled with handpicked gifts and treats, are intended for the homes of some of the incredible children and young people supported by Spread a Smile, as well as their siblings. This collaborative effort was part of Spread a Smile’s annual campaign, which this year saw 1,450 boxes sent out to the families we support. The campaign achieved remarkable success, with the joint efforts of 530 volunteers from all over the UK.

Rob Levene, CEO of Constellia, commented, “At Constellia, we are passionate about making a positive social impact, and Spread a Smile’s incredible work aligns perfectly with our values. We are honoured to support them as our nominated charity of the year and look forward to contributing to their mission of bringing smiles to children and teenagers facing challenging times.”

Lucy Jackson, CEO of Spread a Smile, commented, “We are thrilled to have Constellia as a charity partner. Their commitment to helping children and young people facing illness is heartwarming, and their support will enable us to continue bringing happiness and laughter to those who need it most.”

A huge thank you to Constellia for their support.

Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice partnership

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Spread a Smile today announces its newest supported charity, Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service, based in Maidenhead, Alexander Devine offers vital care to babies, children, young people and their families with life limiting and life-threatening conditions across Berkshire and into surrounding counties.

Spread a Smile will provide additional opportunities to the children and their families, with in person visits throughout the year at family events, treat drops and bespoke art sessions.

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.  Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service joins 3 other hospices, and 31 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.

The Spread a Smile team of talented entertainers, including musicians, artists, magicians and therapy dogs, will spend quality time with patients at family events where the Spread a Smile family will invite them to join in one-to-one sessions and group activities, with the aim of spreading smiles and happiness to children undergoing treatment for serious illness, alongside their families.

Children and young people at Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service will also be able to sign up for seasonal Spread a Smile activities such as Christmas eventsenjoy entertainer visits scheduled throughout the year, all giving children and their families the opportunity to join in with fun and exciting experiences.

Gemma Wood, Play Specialist at Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service said “Spread a Smile has lived up to their name with the support they have given to us. Laura, their Director of Services reached out to us earlier in the year to offer their skills and experience to us. Spread a Smile helped to provide entertainment for our siblings day. This enabled our cared for children and their siblings to experience fun and joy together, helping the families make precious memories together.

“Marina, their Head of Art has provided some amazing artwork in our dining room which is in view when you enter our hospice. This has brought a smile to our families and staff faces as it lights up the entire area. Thank you Spread a Smile.” 

Laura Walter, Spread a Smile Director of Services added, “We are delighted to be working with Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service and their wonderful team to help bring a little joy and laughter to the children and families. It’s a very special place and we are proud to be able to share the Spread a Smile magic and reach even more children and young people in the hospice setting.”

A huge thank you to everyone who makes our work possible. Please click here for more on the different NHS hospital and hospice partners that we support.

A special visit from Magic Singh

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Last week we were delighted to welcome the amazing Amardeep Singh Dhanjal, aka Magic Singh, for a visit to St Mary’s Hospital, London to entertain young patients on the wards.

Amardeep joined our Director of Services, Laura Walter to help spread some joy and wonder through the art of magic to children and young people receiving treatment at the hospital. It really was a very special visit.

After his visit, Amardeep said, “This was my first hospital visit… and it certainly won’t be the last. It was truly magical to see a smile on the child’s face. That’s real Magic.”

Amardeep began his magic career at the age of 11 after receiving a deck of trick cards from his parents at Christmas. By 15, he was a fully-fledged member of the esteemed ‘The Young Magician’s Circle’, with full membership of the elite ‘The Magic Circle’ following at the age of 18. Today, Amardeep travels the world with his magic, and has an incredible following, including over 2.1million followers on TikTok alone.

Spread a Smile’s Laura Walter said of the visit, “We’re so grateful to Amardeep for joining us at St Mary’s Hospital and sharing his incredible talents with some of the children and young people we support. Magic is a wonderful art form which can help distract our families from the pain and worry of treatment and illness, even if just for a moment. It was a pleasure to watch Amardeep at work and to have the opportunity to share our work with him. We hope this is the first of many more visits to come.” 

Please click here to find out more about our work entertaining and spreading joy to seriously ill children and young people in hospital and at home.