Author: Lorraine

We love a unique challenge and this one by Preston Running Club was certainly one of a kind!

Riversway Road Runners took on their biggest challenge yet, running 14 Park Run UK courses starting on the east coast of England and finishing on the west coast – in one day, running over 70km!

The club travelled to Scarbourgh which is where their epic journey from the Eastcoast to Westcoast began. They were supported by Andy from Wright Way to Travel, who not only dramatically reduced the fee for the mini bus but also kindly donated the fee to the Club’s charity page.

The Park Run schedule was:

4:30am – North Yorkshire Water Park parkrun.

5:50am – Dalby Forest parkrun

7:40am – New Earswick parkrun

9am – York parkrun

10:20am – Wetherby parkrun

11:30am – Conyngham Hall parkrun

12:25pm – Harrogate parkrun

1:45pm – Chevin Forest parkrun

3pm Bradford parkrun

4pm – Myrtle parkrun

5pm – Cliffe Castle parkrun

6:50pm – Skipton parkrun

8:25pm – Clitheroe Castle parkrun

9:20pm – Preston parkrun

We were lucky enough to catch the runners on their penultimate run at Clitheroe, where they all looked fresh and full of energy, despite the tough challenge already faced.

We also were fortunate to watch their last run at Preston, and we were truly in awe at their commitment and dedication. A fantastic achievment for themsevles and for Milly’s Smiles.

The club have raised a staggering £3,897.00!

Huge congratulations to everyone involved, and a massive thank you to all the runners and the organisers for supporting Milly’s Smiles.

We were thrilled to receive a wonderful donation of £500 from the Cumbria Armed Forces Breakfast Club.

Army veterans John and Alison Chippendale came down to the Summer Fayre last month to present us with the cheque.

This means such a lot to us, John and Alison are related to Milly and their support and kindness means the world.

Thank you to everyone involved in raising the money.

A huge thank you to The Bonny Inn who recently held a charity night for Milly’s Smiles.

The evening was a huge success and a total amount of £792.91 was raised.

A special thank you to Mike who not only dressed as a woman for the evening but also had his beard shaved off for extra donations!

Thank you to everyone involved, we are more than grateful for all your support, it allows us to make a difference every single day.

Yesterday I met brave parents Mark and Jenny when they came to Milly’s Smiles to present us with a cheque for £4260.20.

The money was raised when the family held a charity ball to raise money for 5 charities who had supported them over the last 2 years, following their daughter Holly being diagnosed with cancer.

Holly was admitted and subsequently treated on Ward 84/86 at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, where she received her Milly Bag.

Heartbreakingly Holly did not survive her treatment and she sadly passed away in April this year.

You can read all about Holly and her bravery at Holly’s Blooms Journey.

It was a privilege and an honour to meet Holly’s parents and with all our heart we thank them for their kindness and support.

This money will allow us to continue making a difference to families every day .

Bolton Hot Wheels Cycling Club took part in a sponsored cycle in order to raise funds for us.

Club members of all ages took part in a sponsored cycle around their training track, with a target to collectively ride 200 miles in 2 hours – 805 laps in total!

The club did even better than they thought, and after 2 hours they had ridden a massive 374 miles!

The total amount raised by these wonderful people is £1075.00.

We are so very grateful to everyone who took part, what a wonderful acheivement. Thank you so very much.

Our Summer Fayre was a resounding success! We had over 20 stall holders, selling a variety of crafts and home made cakes.

The sun shone throughout the day and children enjoyed meeting the Police and getting the chance to handcuff their parents and put them in the back of a Police Van!

The Fire Bridage were in attendance and children were able to sit in the cab and see the workings of the Fire Engine.

We had old fashioned stocks which were really popular, although the people who were unfortunate enough to be in them and having wet sponges thrown at them may disagree!

The day was well attended and we have raised a wonderful amount of just over £2023 with some money still to come in.

Massive thank you to all the stall holders, the wonderful Police Cadets who were brilliant in offering their support to ensuring the smooth running of the day, and to all the volunteers who helped make the day so successful!

People say you are only as good as the team around you….

At Milly’s Smiles, teamwork is something that we do really well.

On Monday I received an email from Ward L31 to say they only have 2 Milly Bags left.

As I am way on holiday, one of our trustees kindly jumped in and made sure the already packed Milly Bags were tagged and loaded into the van.

The next day David and Vicky collected the van, filled up with fuel and safely delivered all 20 Milly Bags to Leeds, Ward L31.

All this was done by everyone with only a moments notice because we understand that no hospital can be left without a supply of Milly Bags.

This is something we promise to all our hospitals, and in the 6 years we have been operating, we have always kept this promise.

Huge thank you to everyone involved with Milly’s Smiles, there are so many people behind us and every single person plays a huge part.

To all the families we have supported and to all the families that we will support in the future, we see you, we understand you and we send you our love.

At the moment a few of the hospitals that we are supporting are having a higher than usual admission rate.

On Thursday we made a delivery to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital slightly earlier than expected which caught us a little on the hop due to holidays!

However, we are not ones to be defeated and knowing how good our network of volunteers are, we knew someone would be able to make the delivery.

That someone was the lovely Carrie – whose daughter Lucy recieved a Milly Bag a few years ago, when she was diagnosed with neuroblastoma. Lucy was also a pupil at Milly’s School!

Thankfully today, Lucy is doing well and remains in remission.

Carrie has been a valued volunteer with Milly’s Smiles for a while now and she was more than happy to collect 20 Milly Bags and head over to Manchester.

2 lovely nurses Em and George met Carrie on her arrival. They had both cared for Lucy during her time on the ward, so it was lovely for them all to meet up again.

We continually feel grateful to everyone involved in supporting us and ensuring all new families receive a Milly Bag when they most need it.

Teamwork really does make a huge difference, we think you are all wonderful, and together we continue to make a difference every day.

Last week another Milly’s Smiles delivery was made, this time it was Graeme and John’s turn to take 20 Milly Bags to Ward 3B at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

It was their first delivery together and they had strict instructions on what was expected! They did an amazing job of safely delivering our Milly Bags all the way up to the ward and into their storage room.

Huge thank you to the team, our volunteers are the backbone of Milly’s Smiles and we couldn’t do what we do without them.

Thank you also to everyone who continues to support us – everyday we make a huge difference to someone.

In total we have delivered 285 Milly Bags to Alder Hey and we feel very humbled that we are able to help newly diagnosed children and their families every day.

Our first ever quiz night was a huge success!

Everyone had a great time, the quiz was challenging but lots of fun and the supper was great!

It really was lovely to see so many people supporting us, a huge thank you to everyone who attended and everyone involved in arranging the day.

We also have to say a special thank you to our beautiful raffle ticket sellers, they did an amazing job, and the total amount raised on the night was £908!

Thank you so much to everyone for their generosity it always means so much to us and to the families and hospitals we support.