Millys SmilesIn May, Carl Morris ran the Rob Burrows Leeds Marathon for Milly’s Smiles – he did a marvellous job and raised a wonderful £1260.00
Carl called into the unit where I was able to persuade him to pose for a photo!
Congratulations Carl on a great run and a huge thank you for supporting Milly Smiles.
We love hearing about unusual challenges that people take on to support Milly’s Smiles. One such challenge is The Race To The Stones – this is a 100km (87 mile) race which conquers the oldest path in Britain. The race follows in the footsteps of Romans, Vikings and mythical warriors in their quest to reach the ancient stone circle at Avebury and has become the UK’s favourite ultramarathon.
Ed Newbon took on this challenge and chose Milly’s Smiles to support, after his friends daughter received one of our Milly Bags.
At the start of the race Ed was all smiles however this was before the arrival of torrential rain, thunder and lightning, mud, showers, cold, wind and then sunburn all on the same day! Unfortunately Ed found himself in the medical tent at the 72km point, however it didn’t take long before he was back up and running. The last 4 hours of his run was in pitch darkness until Ed finally arrived at the Stones at 2.30am after running for a total of 19 and a half hours – what an achievement!
It was too dark at that time to actually see the stones so Ed wend back the next day to see them in the daylight.
To have someone undertake a challenge such as this for us is just so humbling, we never underestimate the amount of hard work, dedication and commitment it takes just to get to the start line. This is one incredible achievement, and we are in awe of Ed.
Thank you so much and thank you for raising such a wonderful amount of money for Milly’s Smiles too. Ed has raised an incredible £566 which will make a massive difference to us, and allow us to continue to support families and children facing a new diagnosis of cancer.
On Sunday, mums and siblings came together for our monthly SOULS craft therapy, supporting bereaved families. The plan was to make beautiful Fairy Houses.
Everyone arrived with their jam jar in tow, and it was like meeting old friends. It was lovely to see the interaction with everyone, we had a new member join the group and at the end of the session she said “You are all lovely beautiful people, it was a pleasure to be in your company today. Felt totally at ease with you all today. Thank you’.
It can be very daunting turning up to a new group on your own, we try our very best to ensure everyone feels welcome and at ease. By immersing yourself into the crafting sessions, it becomes easier to talk without any pressure.
At this session we created Fairy Houses, from a jam jar, air drying clay and some brilliant tips from YouTube!
It was agreed by everyone that it was a lovely few hours, crafting, chatting and talking about our children in a very safe environment.
There were some amazing fairy houses produced along the way too! Next month we will be painting the houses, and for those who were unable to attend this session they will be able to make a fairy house which they can paint at home.
Our SOULS group is open to anyone living with the loss of a child/grandchild/sibling/niece/nephew, please get in touch if you would like to come along and find out how we can support you.
In May the first of our monthly creative and supportive therapies group for bereaved families took place in our unit.
The plan for the afternoon was to make beautifully scented candles and wax melts. We were supported by Karen, our lovely craft lady, who helped inspire our senses to create new scents and fragrances.
Mums, aunties, brothers and sisters of children who are no longer with us joined us, we started the session as strangers, but as the afternoon progressed, we created some amazing candles whilst building friendships and creating support networks because of our unique bond of loss and grief.
The afternoon flew by and everyone was quite rightly very proud of what they had created. At the end of the session talk was already starting about the next one – Fairy House Making!
It was lovely to be in an environment that was a totally safe place for everyone to process their emotions and talk about their children.
Our next session is Sunday 2 July at 2pm. If you would like to join us please get in touch via the website, or email hello@millyssmiles.org.
When I created Milly’s Smiles just a few months after losing Milly, I never imagined how the charity would look 7 years later.
Milly’s Smiles began as a small organisation which successfully became a registered charity, initially supporting Ward 84 (now 86) at The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. Our first Milly Bags were delivered in March 2016.
Fast forward 7 years and we now support 3 major children’s hospitals across the North of England, and have donated 1,415 Milly Bags at a cost of £198,100.
There is a lot to consider when taking on a new hospital, we look at the size of the ward and in particular their admission rates. We need to be sure that once we commit to giving our support, we are able to continue with this for the long term.
We have been speaking with Ward E39 at Nottingham Children’s Hospital over the last few weeks, they love what we do and the support our Milly Bags give to families, and they were very keen for us to offer the same support to their newly diagnosed families.
Today was a very proud day for Milly’s Smiles as we took our very first delivery of Milly Bags to Ward E39. It was lovely to meet all the team, who were so welcoming and very appreciative of our support.
Being able to give donate Milly Bags to hospitals is only possible because of all the wonderful support we receive from people, together we really do make a difference every single day.
Last night we attended our first awards ceremoney ever. It was the Hyndburn Business Awards 2023, where local businesses are recognised for their hard work and achievments.
We were finalists in the Not For Profit category and were up against some amazing charities who do wonderful work.
We were totally shocked when our name was called out as winners for 2023!
This is such an honour for us to have our hard work recognised – I am sure Milly will be beaming with pride.
I was so very proud to accept this on behalf my beautiful daughter who I miss every single day.
Our candle making day for bereaved families was enjoyed by all who attended. We had a mix of mums, grandparents, aunties and brothers and sisters. The group very quickly bonded over coffee and biscuits and the whole day was very natural, with people talking about their children and sharing experiences.
There is a common feeling amongst bereaved parents that those around them cannot truly understand the depth of their grief, only those who have been through it themselves can possibly know the extent of their suffering.
By bringing families together to undertake various creative therapies we aim to provide understanding, comfort, friendship, support and hope. It feels after our first session that this is very much underway.
Our next session is on Sunday 2 July at 2pm, where we will be creating fairy houses. The afternoon is open to anyone who has lost a child and is totally free to attend.
20 Milly Bags have been safely delivered onto Ward 3B at Alder Hey today by our driver Graeme.
We have been supporting Alder Hey for almost 4 years, and we have helped 345 families during what is one of the worst times of their lives.
We never ask or expect feedback from families, its the last thing on their mind, however it does totally warm our hearts when we do get a messaage or two.
Its a strange time when making up our Milly Bags, I often think about the families that one day will have to open this bag, and that really saddens me.
I truly wish there was no need for any of our Milly Bags. Sadly there is, and as long as there is we will continue to support newly diagnosed families in Milly’s memory.
We made our second delivery of the year to Ward 86 at The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital today.
Graeme and John safely delivered 20 Milly Bags taking our total to 800 bags since March 2016.
Thank you so much to everyone who continues to generously donate, fundraise and give their time up so selflessly for us.
Together we make a difference every single day.
Upon their return to Great Harwood, Graeme and John enjoyed a well deserved cup cake!
We are always so grateful to people who fundraise for us. However, there are occasions where we are unaware of what people are doing to raise money, until the payment arrives. As as soon as that happens we will get in touch with the fundrasier straight away.
That was the case recently with Kirsten, and she sent us a lovely email about her reasons for choosing Milly’s Smiles …..
“I completed the fundraiser mentioned in your email because my niece had been diagnosed with leukaemia and received one of your Milly Bags.
She and my sister-in-law had been flown over from the Isle of Man for diagnosis, she was five and still in her school uniform.
They had nothing with them at all as they had no idea of the twists and turns that were coming their way that day.
Receiving a Milly Bag was so significant for them because it gave them things that were theirs in an unfamiliar and terrifying situation.
Not only things, but incredibly useful, thoughtful and comforting things which became invaluable to them.
She still uses it when she travels for treatment almost a year on.
While I am so wholeheartedly sorry for what happened to your beautiful daughter, what you are doing in her memory is absolutely magical.
Myself and my loved ones cannot thank you enough for the incredible work you do supporting families facing this turmoil.
As the anniversary of my niece’s diagnosis approaches, I fully intend to do another fundraiser for your wonderful charity and hope to fund at least another Milly Bag- fingers crossed!”
Receiving messages like this cannot be underestimated, to hear that we are helping newly diagnosed families during a horrendous frightening time is exactly why we do what we do.
Milly is making a difference every day to children and their families.
I hope that she is watching over with pride and love.
They that love beyond the world,
Cannot be separated by it.
Death cannot kill what never dies (William Penn)
