Author: Lorraine

At the age of 4, Theodore was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer and was treated on Ward 84, where he received fifteen rounds of chemo. 

Arriving at The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital meant Theodore and his family were 100 miles from their home. Mum Korinne told us “I cannot express how grateful we were to receive one of your bags with all the essentials to keep Theodore comfortable during his stay.” 

Theodore is now 7 and thriving, he is an active and athletic young boy and has expressed the desire to accomplish a Swim Run this year with his mum’s support.

The family live in the Lake District and there is a challenge called the Tadpole Round, which comprises of a 10km fell run and 700m open water swim across two of the lakes. Theodore has decided this is a brilliant challenge to take on for Milly’s Smiles, and a way to say thank you for their help, during such a difficult time. 

The Tadpole Round covers a distance of just under under 7 miles and the route itself has a total ascent of 795ft with a maximum elevation of 937ft. The start point is at the shingle beach to the North of Hause Point and the first leg is a swim across Crummock Water to Low Ling Crag. 

Next it’s along the shores of Crummock and Buttermere to Horse Close, then a swim across Buttermere to Hassness.

Finally, a run along the shore of Buttermere, through the village, up and through Rannerdale and back to the start. 

We are in complete awe of Theodore and this incredible challenge. We wish him lots of luck, and look forward to hearing how he does.

We received a lovely thank you message from Grace and her mum and dad today. Grace has recently received a Milly Bag and told us her favourite item was the rainbow elephant!

We think Grace looks beautiful in her hat and we send all our love throughout her treatment.

So much more than just a bag!

We recently received these lovely photos of Oliver and his parents in their Milly hats – mum told us that we have given them all a big smile during a very worrying time.

Mum also mentioned that Oliver and dad were shopping in Aldi recently when they were approached by another family who recognised the hats.

Their daughter was also having treatment and had received a Milly Bag.

They family stopped to talk about how treatment was going, sharing a common bond.

Our bags provide a sense of community to families, they recognise each other even away from the hospital giving them opportunity to build friendships and support networks.

Milly’s Smiles making a difference every day!

We had some special guest at our unit recently, Ward 84/86 family Jonny, Katie, Joey and Dexter Kidd came along to do some packing of Milly Bags.

I first met the Kidds when their son Dexter was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2015, we met in the parents room on the ward, shortly after Dexter had been admitted onto the ward.

Since then, Jonny and his family have been valued supporters of Milly’s Smiles, and in 2021 we were thrilled to have Joey and Dexter cut the ribbon to open our new unit.

It was lovely to welcome them back to the unit, they all did an amazing job of packing our bags, and it was exciting to show them the improvements we have made over the last few year.

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.