Posts Tagged :

spread a smile

Intensive Care Library Project

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Spread a Smile is delighted to introduce our new Intensive Care Library Project which will see us set up a Spread a Smile book library in six of our NHS hospital partners for families with children on intensive care and high dependency units. 

When a child is diagnosed with a serious illness, life can become very unsettled, scary and unfamiliar, controlled by schedules, treatment plans and prolonged hospital stays away from family and friends. Through our book libraries Spread a Smile will provide a way for children and their families to find comfort and calm through the familiar activity of reading together. 

The project follows on from the success of Spread a Smile’s pre-recorded soothing nursery rhyme and song collection which are available for children to watch and enjoy on our Smile TV digital viewing platform. The libraries will contain a range of story books which families can borrow to read with their children, enjoying special moments of connection.

Online bookstore, Pickled Pepper Books is generously supporting this new initiative, providing an online book list of sensitive and age-appropriate books for children of all ages and stages. Supporters can purchase books from the online store at a discounted rate to be sent to Spread a Smile and distributed to the libraries, providing a wonderful gift for families with children in hospital.

Alongside the onsite libraries, one of Spread a Smile’s talented storyteller, Posey will be recording a series of stories for families to access via Smile TV whenever they need them.  

If you would like to purchase a book for our libraries, you can do so here.

Thank you to so much for helping to spread smiles during some of the darkest times for the families we support.

Blackstone Cheque presentation

Blackstone Gives Back Challenge secures grant

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Spread a Smile is delighted to announce that we have been chosen as the first-place EMEA beneficiary charity by the Blackstone Charitable Foundation as part of their ‘Blackstone Gives Back Challenge’. 

The initiative calls on Blackstone employees around the globe to pitch for their favourite charities to receive grants from their Charitable Foundation. Spread a Smile was represented in EMEA by Antonia Voss, Laura Troy, Rebecca Flower and Georgie Bannister, who delivered their pitch to secure first place for the charity. 

This incredibly generous grant will have a huge impact for Spread a Smile over the coming months with the charity’s Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson saying, “Spread a Smile relies completely on donations from individuals and companies to continue our work bringing joy and laughter to seriously ill children and their families. We are so grateful to everyone at Blackstone for choosing to support our work and for helping us to ensure that we can be there for even more families during some of the darkest times of their lives.” 

To find out more about Spread a Smile’s work delivering in-person entertainer visits, virtual sessions and more, please click here.  

Summer Party 2024

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The Spread a Smile annual Summer Party returned to Coram’s Fields in London on Thursday 25 July and it was another incredible day filled with fun, laughter and smiles.

We were joined by 780 children, young people, family members and colleagues from our NHS hospital partners and we loved seeing so many of our families and friends coming together to enjoy themselves.

“We’ve had the most incredible day. Thank you all so much to everyone who’s been part of it. My husband and I have come with our little boy Jacob who’s got leukaemia and our little girl, and we’ve had the most magical time together. To spend time together as a family has been wonderful. We’ve had so many laughs and everything he could wish for is here – thank you so much!” Mum, Lucy

The Spread a Smile team once again went all out to put on our best party yet, with so much for our guests to do and enjoy. Over 160 volunteers gave up their time to run a range of different stalls for our guests to enjoy including arts and crafts, face painting, nail art, glitter tattoos, animal petting, slime, football, friendship bracelet making, biscuit, hat and tote bag decorating and water bottle personalisation.

We were joined by Anna’s Animals who brought along some gorgeous animals including tortoises and rabbits. Our friends from the LEGO Group were on hand with trays full of Lego for everyone to get creative building with, plus Hasbro manned their own interactive game stations! Guests also enjoyed making beautiful flower crowns with Freddie’s Flowers, their own bespoke smiley BN biscuits with McVitie’s and the slimiest slime with Slime Planet. And everyone enjoyed the inflatable football goal from Non-Stop Action and the Pop-Up Arcade.

Our brilliant team of Spread a Smile entertainers filled the day with music, singing, dancing, bubbles, magic, poetry and much more. Thomas, Chocco and Zara our therapy dogs also loved meeting lots of new friends.

There were food and treats galore including ice cream rolls from our partners Pan-n-Ice, wood fired pizzas from the Wandering Pizza Company and delicious treats from our friends at Mildred’s, Brigit’s Bakery and Lola’s Cupcakes.

We are extremely proud to be able to deliver days such as this for the families we support, and it was a wonderful opportunity for our guests to put aside their worries for an afternoon and enjoy being together.

We can’t thank our wonderful volunteers enough for giving up their time to make the day possible, plus all of our generous supporters who donated supplies, food and drink.

A special thanks to our friends from Children with Cancer UK and the Children’s Welfare and Research Foundation for their generous support

Thank you to all of our friends, families and colleagues for joining us and making our Summer Party 2024 one to remember. We’re looking forward to next year already.

“Yesterday we attended the Summer Party for the first time…it was truly magical and beyond anything we had imagined. Thank you for throwing such an amazing event! The highlight of the whole day for Layla was dancing with Peppa Pig. She threw herself into it and didn’t stop until Peppa had to go for a rest.

“There definitely was something for everyone, and so many opportunities for creativity with bag and cap designing, open spaces and seated areas, and so many snacks! It was lovely to see so many children enjoying their day, and for me to see my two babies together, enjoying their day out, just being ‘normal’ siblings on a fun day out. They have been forced to spend so much time apart from each other/ limited to hospital visits for so long, so this was really special.” Hena, Layla and Idris

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

 

BC partners art workshop

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Spread a Smile’s talented team of artists regularly create murals and artworks for our hospital partners, making hospital wards and spaces more welcoming and attractive for young patients.

BC Partners Art workshopRecently, we held a special art workshop for our friends at the BC Partners Foundation which saw the BC Partners Central Functions Team create some beautiful window stencils to be distributed to Spread a Smile’s NHS hospital partners.

Spread a Smile’s talented artists led the session with passion and expertise, bringing their wealth of personal experience from supporting young patients in hospital.

It was a fun-filled day which saw the team from BC Partners tap into their creative side, producing some wonderful artworks which will help to enrich hospital wards and bring a little bit of joy and distraction to young patients undergoing treatment.

A huge thank you to everyone at the BC Partners Foundation for joining us and for their incredible support.

If your company is looking for a brilliant team building opportunity to reach your CSR and ESG objectives, please contact our Partnerships Manager Lucy Keith at lucykeith@spreadasmile.org to find out about joining us for one of our art workshops.

Forever Colours – new hospice partner

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Spread a Smile today announces its newest hospice partner, Forever Colours, a children’s hospice which cares for families of children with learning disabilities and life-limiting and life-threatening conditions as well as those with profound-and-multiple learning difficulties across Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes.

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.  Forever Colours joins five 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.

The Spread a Smile team of talented entertainers, including musicians, artists, magicians and therapy dogs, will support regular events for the children and their families at Forever Colours, spending quality time with patients and helping to spread smiles through music, magic, singing and more.  The most recent activity at Forever Colours, supported by the charity, was the hospice’s Summer Fete at the beginning of June which was attended by their entertainers.

Children and young people supported by Forever Colours will also benefit from treat drops and virtual entertainment, all with the aim of spreading smiles and a lot of happiness.

Forever Colours, family Support worker, Vicki Nicholson, is delighted by this partnership. “The joy the Spread a Smile team brings to the faces of the children and their families we support is always heartwarming to see, and we couldn’t be happier that this partnership is going to create more smiles! Everyone at Forever Colours is very grateful”.

Laura Walter, Spread a Smile Director of Services added, “It is a pleasure to be working with the amazing team at Forever Colours to help bring some joy and laughter to their children and families. Most recently we were delighted to join them for their Summer Fete, meeting some of the children and their families and helping to spread smiles with singing, music, balloons, bubbles and more. 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 supporting NHS hospitals and hospices, please click here.

Visit to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children

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Spread a Smile has been supporting the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children for a few years through virtual sessions and treat drops, and it’s always very special when we visit the hospital in person.

Last month, a team of Spread a Smile entertainers along with our Director of Services Laura Walter and Marina our Head of Art, made the trip to Bristol. They visited and provided bespoke entertainment to many children and young people across six wards and ended the day at the hospital’s Activity Centre with the Centre’s Play Assistant Daisy saying:

“Spread a Smile instantly engaged the children in the Activity Centre through song, sparkles, bubbles and magic! They came in with infectious energy and got down on the children’s level straight away. The parents and myself were just as engaged as the children!”

Laura from Spread a Smile added, “It’s important for us to reach as many children and young people across our hospital partners as possible – visiting in person where we can to provide much needed distraction, entertainment and joy during some of the most difficult times. It was wonderful to be able to spend so much time, not only with the children and young people across the wards, but also with the brilliant Play Team at the hospital who already do so much for the children under their care. We are looking forward to making a return visit soon.”

Bristol Royal Hospital for Children is one of 32 NHS hospitals and five hospices supported by Spread a Smile, receiving support for seriously ill children and young people under their care through in-person and virtual entertainer visits and group sessions, seasonal activities, treat drops and more.

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

The Arsenal Foundation donates grant

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Spread a Smile, the charity on a mission to bring joy and laughter to seriously ill children in hospital via talented entertainers including musicians, artists, magicians and therapy dogs, has received a from The Arsenal Foundation, which will be put towards supporting the ongoing work that the charity provides across its hospital partners.

Arsenal Football Club has always understood the power it has to make a difference in the community and as the club has grown so has its ability to make that difference. Arsenal’s tradition of giving sees it make contributions to good causes local to the club.  Spread a Smile neighbours Arsenal, with its HQ situated nearby the club in Hornsey and its work highlighted by one of its members.

The Arsenal Foundation supported through a grant, following an application which included the story of one of their young fans, Amelia, aged 11, who fought a brain tumour and was supported by the Spread a Smile team during her long hospital stays and beyond.

Lucy Jackson, Spread a Smile Chief Executive said of the grant, “We are immensely thankful to The Arsenal Foundation for their generous donation. The funding will help us spread more smiles in hospital which can make a significant difference to a child and their family during a challenging time. It is wonderful to receive support from the local community and we’re delighted to be neighbours with a Foundation that both supports our mission as well as drives its own initiatives for good.”

Gemma, Amelia’s mum, tells her daughter’s story:

“When Amelia was eight years old she started to experience headaches and stomach pain at night.  Her symptoms continued and we started noticing that she didn’t seem to be growing, wasn’t eating properly and started to lose weight, plus kept losing her balance.

Amelia was referred to hospital and an MRI scan revealed a large mass on her brain.  She was diagnosed with Germinoma, a brain tumour in January 2023.   What followed was four cycles of chemotherapy, during which time Amelia was often very unwell, in and out of hospital for blood transfusions.  It was an extremely emotional time for us all.  Amelia just wanted to be at home with her family!

In April 2023, Amelia was referred for a three-week course of Proton Beam Therapy at UCLH, during which time she and I stayed together, visiting hospital every day for treatment.  It was a very difficult time.  We were away from home and the rest of the family, and Amelia was often so ill we weren’t able to do anything else at all.  

My husband Scott had met some of the Spread a Smile team during a hospital visit.  They introduced themselves and offered to support us, mentioning a forthcoming day out at Mildreds restaurant and a planned tripped to see Frozen at the theatre. The outing gave us the chance to do something as a family.  We went to see Frozen just after Amelia finished her proton treatment and it was brilliant to have her sisters join in for such a special day out.

Having been under pressure financially due to needing to look after all our children, the outing was a well needed treat for the whole family and something we would never have been able to afford ourselves.

Spread a Smile gave us a place to be together, not having to worry about money.  There was entertainment including magic, singing and so much more to help cheer us all up and forget about all the other stuff we were going through.  It was amazing seeing the faces of our children!  The girls enjoyed face painting, balloon making and eating Lola’s cupcakes. 

I just sat down, relaxed and watched my children have fun and smile. 

Amelia rang the bell at Colchester Hospital in July 2023 to mark the end of her cancer treatment, but Spread a Smile is still supporting us and we enjoyed a family trip to the Lake District when Amelia finished her treatment.

Seeing Amelia go through her treatment was so hard.  She was so sick and there was so much worry and pain.  Being away from the family was extremely difficult and a very lonely time for me too.  Spread a Smile injected light back into our lives.  They gave us something to look forward to and a place to be together again as a family.  We will forever be grateful to the team.”

Mamma Mia – My, my what a show!

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My, my what a show! The team from Spread a Smile had a glorious afternoon taking nine of the families we support to see Mamma Mia the Musical at the Novello Theatre in London.

Our VIPS loved watching the smash hit musical, singing, dancing and clapping along and the smiles were as bright as the theatre lights.

After the show, our families were incredibly lucky to meet several members of the cast, who kindly gave up their time to pose for photos and answer any questions our families had. Tessa, 10, who wants to be performer asked, “do you ever forget your lines?” and “do all the cast members get on?”.

Lauren, mum of Elsa (13) said “Thank you so, so much for yesterday it was amazing and as I predicted Elsa has not stopped telling everyone especially how she “met the characters” – I keep telling her they are the cast! She has taken the programme into school today. I honestly cannot express our gratitude as always, words do not seem enough.”

A huge Spread a Smile thank you to the cast of Mamma Mia for being so amazing and taking the time out of their busy schedule to meet our families after the show – you’re all Super Troupers!

To find out more about our family events, click here.

5-a-side Football Tournament success

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Last Thursday saw Spread a Smile’s fifth annual 5-a-side Football Tournament take place, this time at Powerleague Shepherd’s Bush.

The sun was shining and we were delighted to welcome our teams for a competitive day of football and fun, with Spread a Smile magician Gary on hand to help keep everyone entertained in between games.

The tournament was closely fought, with Corinthia London emerging victorious and winning the cup, with Enra Specialist Finance coming a close second. Also congratulations to BN McVitie’s who won the plate.

Imogen Slazenger, Spread a Smile’s Head of Fundraising attended on the day saying, “It was a pleasure to welcome so many supporters and new friends for this brilliant event. A huge thank you to all everyone who joined us for their energy, enthusiasm and commitment helping to raise thousands of pounds to support our work spreading smiles to seriously ill children and their families when they’re needed most. We hope to see you back next year!”

Please get in touch with Alicia by emailing alicia@spreadasmile.org to find out more about next year’s football tournament or how you can support one of our other events.

Canary Wharf Contractors Fund Golf Day

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Earlier this month on a beautiful Summer’s Day, our friends at Canary Wharf Contractors Fund held their hugely popular charity Golf Day at London Golf Club.

The event is held every year to raise funds for their charity partners and Spread a Smile was honoured to be amongst them, with the charity’s Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson and Head of Fundraising, Imogen Slazenger attending on the day.

Welcoming almost 200 golfers to play on the renowned Jack Nicklaus designed championship course, the event was one to remember, with two of our brilliant magicians also joining in the fun with magic, tricks and fun for guests.

Lucy Jackson said, “We are so grateful to everyone at Canary Wharf Contractors Fund for their ongoing belief in and support of our work, helping to spread smiles to seriously ill children and young people across the country. Thank you to all those involved including everyone who played, bid on the silent auction, donated on the day and helped raise much needed funds for Spread a Smile and the other worthy causes.”

Please do get in touch with our Head of Fundraising, Imogen by emailing imogen@spreadasmile.org if you would like to chat about supporting Spread a Smile through a (fundraising) event.