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spread a smile

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.

Our entertainers – meet Collette

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Spread a Smile’s talented team of entertainers put the ‘smile’ in Spread a Smile and include musicians, singers, magicians, performers, artists, poets, balloon modellers and therapy dogs. Each one is incredibly skilled, able to use their talents to bring a little bit of joy to seriously ill children and their families during some of the most challenging times of their lives.

Collette has been with Spread a Smile since the charity was founded in 2013. Originally one of our entertainers, today Collette is a Visit Manager, entertainer and a much loved and recognised member of the team, leading regular visits to our hospital and hospice partners and part of our 100-strong entertainer team.

Collette said, “I originally met Spread a Smile Co-Founder, Josephine, when I was performing at a gig for her husband’s birthday. She told me that she and her friend Vanessa were starting the charity and asked if I would come on board as a singer to help entertain children at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH). Naturally I jumped at the chance.

“In those early days, I was one of five entertainers who joined Josephine and Vanessa twice a month to visit children and young people receiving treatment at GOSH. Along with brilliant talents such as Mr Magic and Judge the Poet, we would bring music, singing, magic, poetry and fun onto the wards. The fact that all three of us still work for the charity to this day is a testament to the wonderful organisation that Josephine and Vanessa have created.

“At the time, there was nothing really like what Spread a Smile was offering to our hospital partners. We would receive so much positive feedback from patients, families and staff alike, telling us what a breath of fresh air we were and how we were helping to bring some light and happiness during some really difficult times for children on the wards. We all knew really early on how important Spread a Smile’s work was and it was easy to see how this drove Josephine and Vanessa on to grow the charity and reach even more young people in even more hospital settings.

“I have learnt so much working for Spread a Smile, as a person, singer and entertainer. To be able to use something I love to bring joy to others is huge and every day I feel grateful to have been given the opportunity to help make a difference. We work really hard to make sure our visits and interactions are tailored to each child’s needs. Our fairies bring so much joy to the younger children we meet for example and our team includes magicians that appeal to a range of ages. As a singer, I often receive wildly different requests for songs, from Disney to the latest Number 1, so it’s important to stay up to date with what’s out there and what’s popular. Talking about music is always a great conversation starter and it focuses in on the child straight away. It’s about what they like and want to hear and let’s them know that we are there just for them. The children are the ones making the decisions for a change which is really important when they are dealing with serious illness as a lot of autonomy around day-to-day life and childhood experiences can be lost.

“I am lucky to work with some incredibly talented entertainers (now friends) and every day I see the difference music, magic or distraction of any kind can make to a child in hospital. It can help to break up long hours and days of boredom in hospital or provide a much needed distraction from pain and the worries of illness and treatments. As entertainers, we are a friendly face when it’s needed most.  

“Knowing that the children and also staff in hospital look forward to our visits means so much. Being a Spread a Smile entertainer is one of the most valuable things I will ever do, and I am proud to continue to be part of this wonderful charity.”

To find out more about our work, please click here.

Three Peaks Challenge Discount

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Join us for our National Three Peaks Challenge from Friday 4 – Sunday 6 July 2025 and save 50% off the registration fee if you sign up by 31 January using our exclusive SMILE50 discount code.

Get ready for a fast-paced and physically challenging adventure, as you take on the three highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales: Ben Nevis (1,344m), Scafell Pike (978m) and Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) (1,085m).

Over the course of two days, you will trek around 26 miles and ascend to a total height of almost 3,000m. This is a serious and tough challenge which requires a good level of fitness, as well as plenty of grit and determination. Ultimately, however, your hard work will be rewarded with spectacular views and a huge sense of achievement. Plus you’ll be raising vital funds to help spread smiles to seriously ill children and their families.

You can find the full itinerary and details here or email Rimi at rimi@spreadasmile.org to chat about what’s involved.

Downing making an impact with Spread a Smile

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Investment management firm, Downing, has been supporting Spread a Smile since 2023. We were picked as one of its charity partners following a staff vote.

Since then we have worked together to build a creative, engaging and meaningful partnership which has captured the hearts and minds of the team at Downing and made a huge impact for Spread a Smile and our work bringing joy to seriously ill children and their families.

To achieve this, Spread a Smile Chief Executive Lucy Jackson, has been working closely with the team at Downing, saying, “We’ve enjoyed spending time together to understand what the Downing wants to achieve from our charity partnership, and as a consequence have developed some really exciting engagement opportunities.

“We’ve welcomed Downing staff to volunteer at our annual Summer Party for the families we support and they have come into our office to help pack hundreds of Smile Hampers which we send each year to seriously ill children and their siblings in time for Christmas. It’s enabled everyone at Downing to see firsthand the difference they are helping to make and their enthusiasm and commitment to our cause has been wonderful.”

Alongside staff engagement and volunteering, Downing has directly helped to fund Spread a Smile’s work spreading smiles to children in hospital. This year the company is generously supporting our entertainer visits to Great Ormond Street Hospital and St Mary’s Hospital on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, helping to bring a little seasonal joy to families with children in hospital over Christmas.

Downing employees have also enjoyed a variety of engagement opportunities though Spread a Smile’s events, including our annual Golf Days and Football Tournament. Chief Operating Officer, James Weaver also joined us for the Spread a Smile Real Estate Dinner in October which brought together industry professionals for an enjoyable evening of networking and conversation.

“It has been our privilege to be part of the Spread a Smile story and the incredibly important work that they do. Our partnership has far surpassed our expectations, proving to be rewarding, engaging and a real positive for our business.” James Weaver

We’ve provided fundraising opportunities for staff wishing to take on a personal challenge such as the Royal Parks Half Marathon and Downing Partner, Mark Gross, who initially nominated Spread a Smile for the charity partnership, helped to raise over £8,000 by taking part in a fundraising bike ride in 2023.

“Partnering with Spread a Smile has been an incredibly rewarding journey for all of us at Downing. It’s been inspiring to see the direct impact of our support and to know we’re helping bring joy to children and families during tough times. This relationship has enriched our team, and we’re proud to participate in such meaningful work.” Mark Gross

The partnership has gone from strength to strength and to celebrate our achievements, we’ve created a special film talking about what has made the partnership so special and mutually beneficial.

We’re looking forward to continuing to work with Downing and we’d like to say a huge thank you in the meantime to everyone there for their wonderful support, helping us to achieve so much for families going through some of the most difficult times. We couldn’t do it without them.

New partnership with Bain Capital spreads smiles

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Spread a Smile is delighted to announce a new partnership with Bain Capital which will see the private investment firm support the charity through a range of exciting initiatives.

To kick off the partnership, Bain Capital staff joined the Spread a Smile team to help pack 1,874 Smile Hampers being sent to seriously ill children and their siblings in time for Christmas. The willing volunteers hand-picked gifts with each recipient in mind. It was a brilliant opportunity to introduce the Spread a Smile’s work in more depth, with the Bain Capital team taking an active role supporting our families during one of the most difficult times of their year.

Alongside engaging in various volunteering opportunities, Bain Capital will fund 44 in-person hospital visits by Spread a Smile’s talented entertainers, enabling us to carry out bedside visits to 660 seriously ill children at St Mary’s Hospital, London. These visits will make a huge difference to the children and young people we support, providing moments of distraction and laughter in amongst the pain and worry of illness and treatment plans.

Spread a Smile Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson said, “We’re delighted and grateful to be working with Bain Capital to bring joy and happiness to seriously ill children in hospital. Everyone at Spread a Smile is looking forward to getting to know the team and spreading even more smiles together.”

A huge thank you to everyone at Bain Capital for joining the Spread a Smile family.

The Wandering Barber’s rickshaw challenge

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At the end of November, David Jamali aka ‘The Wandering Barber’ took on an incredible fundraising challenge for Spread a Smile and HoH Charitable Trust (Hand on Heart), travelling 3000km across India in a rickshaw.

David raised over £4,000 in the process saying, “This journey is not just about the adventure; it’s about making a difference. I am raising funds for two remarkable charities which are close to my heart, and I have had the privilege of supporting them through my work as a barber.

“Spread a Smile do incredible work bringing joy and laughter to seriously ill children and their families during some of their darkest times. They organise visits from entertainers, therapy dogs, and even magicians to hospitals and hospices, creating precious moments of happiness. I have had the honour of cutting hair for terminally ill children, witnessing firsthand the positive impact of Spread a Smile’s efforts.”

As a charity that relies on the generosity of individuals and organisations to carry out its work spreading smiles to seriously ill children and young people, everyone at Spread a Smile is extremely grateful to David for his efforts and support.

Lucy Jackson, Spread a Smile’s Chief Executive said, “David really has gone that extra mile through his fundraising efforts, taking on a brilliant and inspiring challenge. We can’t thank him enough for his support.”

If you would like to find out more about taking on a fundraising challenge for Spread a Smile, please email the team at fundraising@spreadasmile.org or visit our fundraising pages here.

Welcome to Kuljeet de Souza

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We are delighted to welcome Kuljeet de Souza, the newest member of the Spread a Smile family.

Kuljeet joins us from Grief Encounter as our Trusts and Foundations Manager, helping to drive and nurture support in this important area of fundraising.

Kuljeet said, “I have worked in the charity sector for 20 years in a variety of organisations and roles including YouthNet, The Children’s Society and most recently, as Trusts and Grants Manager for Grief Encounter.

“I have always been passionate about working for charities that support children and young people, so I was delighted when the role of Trusts and Foundations Manager came up at Spread a Smile. I’m looking forward to developing new and existing relationships and helping to raise much needed funds to ensure the charity can continue to deliver our vital services to those most in need.

“I’m excited to join an organisation that makes such a big difference to the lives of children and families. The team has been so welcoming and is 100% committed to the work they do, and that’s reflected in the wonderful impact the charity has.”

Lucy Jackson, Spread a Smile Chief Executive said, “Support from Trusts and Foundations is key to Spread a Smile as we develop and grow to meet our long-term strategic aims and objectives. We’re delighted to welcome Kuljeet to the team. I’m very much looking forward to working with her to continue building a meaningful and impactful fundraising programme in Trusts and Foundations.”

Ari and George’s films win prestigious award

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We’re winners! Last night Spread a Smile and film maker Jules’ Creative Content won the award ‘Film: Best Use of a Smaller Budget category’ at the 2024 EVCOM London Film Awards.

The prestigious annual awards are run by EVCOM (Event and Visual Communication Association) and recognise excellence in both craft and communications, celebrating the best creative work in film.

Spread a Smile’s win is for two incredible films – George’s Story and Ari’s Story – created for us by Jules Sander. They follow the stories of George and his family and Ari and her family, from diagnosis through to treatment and meeting Spread a Smile.

Spread a Smile’s Co-Founders Josephine Segal and Vanessa Crocker, along with Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson attended the awards at a glittering ceremony at Plaisterers’ Hall, London on Thursday 28 November with Lucy saying, “Being able to share, via film, the difference our work makes to the children and families we support means a huge amount to us, and we can’t thank the Anstey and Radcliffe families enough for allowing us to tell their stories. A huge thank you to Jules (Jules’ Creative Content) for bringing such creativity, understanding and passion to the table when producing the films. Thank you to EVCOM for shortlisting us and thereby helping to raise awareness about Spread a Smile and our work bringing a little bit of joy and happiness when it’s most needed. It really is an honour to see our wonderful films recognised in this way and we are proud to be the recipient of this prestigious award.”

Please take a moment to watch George’s Story (below) and Ari’s Story on our YouTube channel. Please share far and wide and if you are able to make a donation to help ensure we can continue to be there for families like these during the darkest of days, we would be extremely grateful, thank you.

New hospital partner – St Peter’s Hospital

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Spread a Smile announces its latest hospital partner, St Peter’s Hospital, a district general hospital in Chertsey, Surrey and part of Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (ASPH). Originally built to serve casualties of the Second World War, today the hospital cares for people across the surrounding area including Woking, Weybridge, Chertsey, Staines and Walton on Thames. 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. St Peter’s Hospital joins 34 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 in hospital through regular in-person visits to the hospital. Every month the team will visit children across paediatric inpatient wards including the Children’s Paediatric Oncology Shared Care Units (POSCUs), sharing their talents and bringing moments of fun and distractions when they are needed most.

In addition, patients and their families will be able to access weekly virtual group activity sessions, including art clubs, magic, storytelling. Plus, they will be able to join in with special seasonally themed virtual activity days during school holidays and benefit from regular treat drops to the hospital. 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.

Izabela Wakula, Play Specialist at St Peter’s Hospital, said: “So far, we have had two visits from Spread a Smile, and what visits they have been! Fairy Betty makes sure there is something exciting for every patient – maybe their favourite songs to sing and join in with, some tricks and tasks or mesmerising bubbles. Then there’s the magician who makes us all go ‘Wow!’ with his tricks. Musician Rosie can play any song suggested, from nursery rhymes the latest radio hits. Some of our patients could not wait for their turn and were calling out from afar that they wanted to be seen next. 

“There have been lots of giggles, smiles, laughter and singing. Grown-ups have joined in too, with parents singing and staff humming. But most of all, children of all ages have had time and space to have fun and be children again, even though they might have been poorly and in hospital that day. Thank you, Spread a Smile team for bringing a little magic to our hospital.” 

Lucy Jackson, Spread a Smile Chief Executive added, “Spread a Smile is proud to be working in partnership with ASPH to support the brilliant team at St Peter’s Hospital. Together we’ll be spreading smiles to seriously ill children and young people receiving treatment at the hospital, providing distraction and much needed moments of engagement and fun. We are looking forward to our visits and what lies ahead.”

Kisharon Langdon support for Mitzvah Day

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Mitzvah Day is a day of faith-based social action in November, when communities and individuals undertake a range of volunteering projects to help others.

This year, Kisharon Langdon, a charity which supports people within the Jewish learning disability and autism community, came together to help Spread a Smile bring a little joy and happiness to seriously ill children and young people.

On 24 November, their youth group which supports young people with learning disabilities, met with adults also supported by the charity at their centre in Edgware, to wrap and pack donated gifts to be included in our Smile Hampers.

The group learnt about the importance of inclusion and reaching out to others and met Spread a Smile Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson and Co-Founder, Josephine Segal who spoke about the work we do and the difference the group are helping to make to the families we support.

Lucy said, “Mitzvah Day is a very special day in the Jewish calendar and one which sees people spending time together to do something good for others. We were delighted to receive support from Kisharon Langdon and so grateful for all their efforts to help us spread smiles to children spending time in hospital, managing treatment plans and illness. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”

To find out more about supporting Spread a Smile, please email fundraising@spreadasmile.org