Author: Lorraine

Last weekend was the Pennine Barrier 50 mile Ultra Marathon. Not for the faint hearted, I am sure you will agree.

One person not phased by such a challenge was Danny Cambell. After learning about Milly’s Smiles following one of our awareness sessions at Tesco Superstore in Great Harwood, Danny wanted to take on something that would not only challenge him personally, but would allow him support Milly’s Smiles and the work that we do.

So Danny signed up for this tough challenge and began his rigorous training schedule.

On the day the 50 mile run consists of a 2593m ascent and fuses together some of the finest trails in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Danny joined 349 other runners at the starting point in Malham, and the run took him to Malham Cove, the Dry Valley of Watlowes, Malham Tarn, Fountains Fell, Janet’s Foss and the wonderful Yorkshire 3 peaks of Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough.

Afterwards Danny told us “50 miles in the bag, by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and made that little bit harder by injuring my knee tendons at mile 8, meaning no downhill running, not good in a mountain race!

I was pushed to the limits on the remaining 42 miles but the support, kind words and donations really helped spur me on, so thank you to everyone”

We can’t thank Danny enough for his support and dedication in taking on this brilliant challenge and raising an amazing £685 for Milly’s Smiles.

A Marvelous and magical night for Milly’s Smiles.

Some events are simply sprinkled with magic as you enter the room, filled full of love. It sparkles in neon light and cascades full of warmth like a beautiful rainbow, that gives you a hug.

It takes both rain and sunshine to make a rainbow ….and a hell of a lot of rain to make a bloody good waterfall. When it rains make sure you put on the Wellington boots and stomp in the puddles.

A few years back (in what can only be described as a truly heart breaking year) I drew a logo in memory of a very special lady called Milly. This little doodle is one of the proudest things I have ever done. It is a little bit flawed, a bit ropey around the edges…..but it is for those imperfections which is why i think it is simply perfect. I think (I know) Milly would be proud.

I get to see that logo at Alderhey on occasions and I am filled with a hidden pride, that Milly is still present in the here and now and always will be. Her magic continues to help families in need, at Leeds and also Manchester. The logo is attached to a beautiful blue bag, which is given to families who have found out that their child has been newly diagnosed with cancer.

Milly’s mum, whose background is in nursing, realised the importance that these bags give to families who are thrown into a dark and scary place without a moment to collect the bare essentials.

In a world that is often cruel, often heart breaking it is the children and the families and the staff upon those hospital wards which has taught me and also shown me, the best of humanity. It is more than simply a bag….it is the acknowledgment that someone knows, and that somebody cares.

Through both the laughter and the tears…none of those children who have lost their battles are ever truly forgotten. ( Every time I think of Milly I cannot help but smile knowing that the Milsters magic continues.)

The new neon sign shone brightly in the darkness and it seemed to sparkle. It glowed. And I for one simply beamed.

We were very privileged to receive a cheque for £1,000 from Shine for Sally recently.

The team performed a spectacular dance show choreographed by Sally’s dance teacher. They raised an outstanding total of £4,000 which was then distributed between 4 wonderful charities.

We were honoured to be one of the chosen charities after we supported Sally and her family with a Milly Bag when Sally was admitted onto ward 84.

Shine for Sally are hoping to perform a show every year in memory of Sally.

We thank everyone involved for choosing us, it was a pleasure to meet you all, and we send our love to Sally’s beautiful family.

We were blessed to have been the chosen charity for Burnley Pension Centre last year.

The team spent the year holding various fundraising activities which included; a curry night, payday bingo, Jubilee cream tea and raffle, donations from a children’s party, donations from panto tickets sales and many more varied activities. All of which contributed to raising such a brilliant amount of money.

The fundraising was headed up by Debbie Hurley-Smith who has been a joy to work with.

We met up with the team last week to say a huge thank you to everyone involved, their support and hard work makes such a difference to Milly’s Smiles and allows us to continue helping children newly diagnosed with a cancer related illness.

It is not often I get the chance to take our Milly Bags to the hospitals, however today I was lucky enough to be able to make the journey over to Liverpool, along with one of our trustee’s Helen.

As well as delivering Milly Bags to Ward 3B we were also meeting with the new Ward Manager – Matt, to introduce ourselves and Milly’s Smiles, as Matt is quite new in post.

Louise from Housekeeping who does an amazing job with our Milly Bags came down to greet us and collect all the bags, we were then joined by Matt who kindly agreed to pose for a quick photo for us!

A lot of organsising goes into making these deliveries. Before our Milly Bags arrive on the ward, we have to ensure we have enough stock to pack the bags, we then need the bag packers to help with the packing. The bags are then quality checked and secured with a security seal. A signing sheet is produced for the ward to ensure each bag is accounted for. Then delivery is arranged with the Ward and also with our delivery drivers.

The Milly van will get loaded up for delivery in readiness for the designated drivers to make the journey over to the required hospital.

Once we arrive at the hospital the Milly Bags are then handed over to the ward staff who therein take full responsiblity for them being given out to every new family arriving for the first time on the ward.

Our Milly Bags ensure that in the North West of England, no families facing a childhood cancer diagnosis feels alone. Our Bags say that we understand what you are going through, we have been where you are and we are sending love and strength to every single one of you.

Milly’s Smiles provide so much more than a bag, and we are fiercely proud to be able to make a difference every single day.

Ward 86 at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital received their first delivery of the new year at the start of this week.

David and Vicky delivered 20 Milly’s Bags to the ward, taking the total number of bags delivered to 960 Bags over the last 7 years.

We aim to ensure that each of the wards we support have a constant supply of Milly Bags, which means we often respond to requests for delivery at only a few days notice.

To be able to deliver at short notice means having Milly Bags constantly packed and ready to go, which is a huge credit to our volunteer bag packers who regularly come and bag pack for us. We are fortunate that our unit has enough storage to be able to accommodate around 100 completed Milly Bags.

We are also extremely lucky in having delivery drivers who will aim to deliver at a moments notice.

Having a brilliant team ensures the constant smooth running of Milly’s Smiles, and because of this we can continue making a difference to newly diagnosed families every single day.

Prior to Christmas, Thorneyholme RC Primary School in Clitheroe carried out a range of fundraising activites for Milly’s Smiles.

The school were aware of Milly and her charity as their Headteacher Mrs Jackson was Milly’s year 6 teacher during the first few weeks that Milly was in School.

Mrs Jackson ensured that Milly still felt part of the class, despite being in hospital for long periods, she organised the children to send letters and cards to Milly, the class made numerous items to remind her that she was thought about and included in the class.

The impact of this cannot be underestimated, and it made Milly smile and feel part of the school and connected with all her class mates despite being very poorly.

Last week Mrs Jackson brought several pupils from Thorneyholme Primary to visit Milly’s Smiles. The pupils were part of their School Parliament and made up from years 1 to 6.

It was an absolute pleasure to be able to show them around our unit and explain all about the Milly Bags that help children and their families when they have been admitted into hospital.

A huge thank you to everyone from the school for supporting Milly’s Smiles and a heartfelt thank you to Mrs Jackson for remembering Milly – as her mum that is a wonderful gift.

Our first delivery of the year went out today.

Our van was loaded this morning ready for David and Vicky to kindly head over to Ward L31 at Leeds Childrens Hospital to take a further 20 Milly Bags.

On arrival they received some lovely feedback from families who have received a Milly Bag …

“Having these items really made a difference on a practical level and also from a comfort point of view. Made us all smile”

If we can put a smile on families whilst providing some comfort during one of the most frightening times of their lives we feel very privileged indeed.

To date we have supported 230 families at Leeds over the last few years which is a total of £32,200.00. So every penny that is donated to us really does make all the difference!

Throughout 2022 we were lucky enough to have been the chosen charity of Briggs & Forrester Living, Warrington.

Over the course of 12 months they held many events to raise money for Milly’s Smiles. On their 10th Birthday they held a raffle with some fabulous prizes, they held a bake off competition, a darts tournament, 2 curry days and a tombola.

All together they have raised a wonderful £1,118.00 which is amazing for us, and so very much appreciated.

We thank everyone involved for all their hard work and effort that has gone into supporting Milly’s Smiles. Every penny will truly make a difference to us and to the families we support.