Spread a Smile

12/10/2026

What a day at the Royal Parks Half Marathon yesterday!🌟

A huge shout out and thank you to the 70 Team Smile runners who took to the course, helping to raise over £64,000 to support our work spreading smiles to seriously ill children and young people. 🥳

You are all incredible and we can’t thank you enough for your hardworking, dedication and support.

Feeling inspired? Head over to spreadasmile.org/run to register for a challenge with Spread a Smile. 😊

10/10/2026

Shout out to Team Smile for the tomorrow! 🤩

We have an incredible 70 runners taking on this brilliant run in support of Spread a Smile.

That’s more than ever before – all coming together to raise as much as possible to help spread smiles to the children, young people and families we support. ❤️

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts and keep an eye out at mile 6 and mile 10 for our cheerers. We’ll be rooting for you. 🎊

If you're feeling inspired, visit www.spreadasmile.org/run to find your next challenge. 🏃‍♂️

08/10/2026

Today as part of Play in Healthcare Week, our Chief Executive Lucy Jackson shares more about why support for children matters more than ever. 💛

The recent report in The Guardian highlighting the chronic shortage of health play professionals across English hospitals is an important reminder of just how much pressure hospital play teams are under.

Spread a Smile's role is not to replace health play professionals – their expertise is vital. Instead, we help create the moments of joy, distraction, connection and creativity that can help children get to a place where play teams and clinical staff can do their jobs most effectively.

Read Lucy's blog and find out how we are supporting NHS Play Teams across the country here: https://spreadasmile.org/2026/10/08/why-support-for-children-matters-more-than-ever 🤩

07/10/2026

“Spread a Smile’s visits complement and enhance our Play and Youth team's work. They provide additional therapeutic play opportunities, introduce new stimuli and activities and help support emotional wellbeing in ways that can sometimes be difficult to replicate in day-to-day clinical practice."

In today’s interview, Áine O’Donovan, Play and Youth Services Team Lead at King's College Hospital NHS, explains why play matters and how Spread a Smile works alongside hospital play teams to help provide children in hospital with opportunities for engagement through play. 🙂

Our entertainers see the child before the diagnosis. Every interaction is adapted to their interests, energy level and communication needs. A child can choose the song, hold the magician’s wand, lead the game, watch quietly or choose not to take part. ❤️

Read Áine’s full interview below and find out more about Spread a Smile’s work supporting children and Play Teams across our NHS hospital partners.🙏

spreadasmile.org/2026/10/06/interview-with-play-and-youth-team-lead-at-kings-hospital

Áine O’Donovan, Play and Youth Team Lead at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, oversees a team of seven staff supporting children across both King’s College Hospital and Princess Royal University Hospital. Áine’s role includes supporting children with a wide range of needs, from...

06/10/2026

Play in healthcare matters. ❤️

Because alongside the smiles and moments of joy, play helps improve health outcomes for young patients in healthcare settings.

That outcome could be an anxious child feeling calm enough to undergo a medical procedure after a magic session with one of our entertainers

Or a young oncology patient finding motivation during physiotherapy thanks to games and physical play with a therapy dog.

Or helping to settle children in hospital through music and laughter, redirecting attention around treatment and what lies ahead.

These experiences are joyful, skilled and child-led. Delivered alongside hospital teams, they can support engagement, reduce anxiety and make difficult moments feel more manageable. 🙂

Find out more about our work supporting children in healthcare settings here🔗
https://spreadasmile.org/2026/10/04/play-in-healthcare-week-why-it-matters/

*Statistics taken from our annual Parent/Carer Survey

05/10/2026

Play is more than a way to pass the time. 🙂

For children and young people receiving healthcare, play can help reduce anxiety, support communication, create connection, provide opportunities for choice and control, and help children cope with difficult experiences.

At Spread a Smile, we see this every day through music, magic, storytelling, art, therapy dog visits and child-led interactions. 🤩

This Play in Healthcare Week, we're celebrating how play can improve outcomes and experiences for the children we support. Through child-led entertainment, creativity, connection and choice, we help children remain connected to who they are beyond illness.

The Play Well Toolkit, developed by Starlight Children's Foundation in partnership with NHS England sets out the first national guidelines, standards and quality measures for health play services across England. At Spread a Smile, we are proud to help bring these principles to life every day through our regular hospital and virtual visits, creative sessions, art initiatives and family events. 💛

Because every child deserves opportunities to play, whatever their diagnosis or treatment journey.

Read more about our impact and services and how we are supporting seriously ill children and young people across the country. 🔗 https://spreadasmile.org/2026/10/04/play-in-healthcare-week-why-it-matters/

02/10/2026

World Smile Day is here! 🤩
Please help us spread smiles to as many seriously ill children and their families as possible.

£20 could help bring music, magic and laughter to a seriously ill child in hospital

Donate today and together we can bring joy and happiness to the families we support when they are needed most. Thank you!
🔗 spreadasmile.org/WSD26

30/09/2026

Our September supporter e-newsletter is here! 💛
This month, for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, we’re shining a spotlight on our work supporting children who have received a cancer diagnosis and their families.

We’re also sharing more on how you can support us for World Smile Day on Friday 2 October, where you can snap up tickets to our annual Comedy Night on Monday 16 November and how to buy gifts for seriously ill children and their families this Christmas. (Yes, we did say 'Christmas'!) 🎄

Plus find out more about how our brilliant corporate partners are making an impact and more!✨

Read it now here: https://bit.ly/4hThNHb

If you’re not already signed up, subscribe below so it lands straight in your inbox every month.
📩 https://spreadasmile.org/newsletter-sign-up/

30/09/2026

Will you help us send out thousands of gifts to seriously ill children and their families in time for Christmas? 🎁

This year we need to source over 10,000 gifts for our…
🎅1,000 Festive Family Hampers full of items for the whole family to enjoy, including a hand wrapped gift for each child, art, games and other treats.
🤶Christmas boxes full of toys, treats and games for our 39 NHS hospital partners to give out to children across the wards over the festive period.

It’s a mammoth task and to do it, we really need your help! Here’s what to do:
👆Head up spreadasmile.org/WishList26 to find our Amazon Gift List
🎁Please buy a gift of two to help fill our Family Hampers or go into our
🚚Your gift will be sent directly to us to help bring some festive cheer to seriously ill children and their families

Please email [email protected] if your company can donate larger quantities of gifts.

Thank you so much for your support. Ho, Ho, Ho! 🎄