Author: Lorraine

We were honoured to be asked by a group of young people if they could support Milly’s Smiles by raising some money for us this summer.  The students were on a 4 week NCS programme which brings together young people from different backgrounds and helps them develop greater confidence, self-awareness and responsibility. It encourages personal and social development by working on skills like leadership, teamwork and communication.

Participants develop a social action project to deal with a local issue they’re passionate about, and spend 30 hours putting the project into action in their community.  We were thrilled that Group 4 chose Milly’s Smiles to support.  To raise money they held a Penalty Shoot Out Challenge in Blackburn Town Centre on a busy Tuesday afternoon, and even managed to persuade Rover the dog to come along too. They also baked cakes which they sold, along with raffle tickets for a signed Rovers shirt.  With all their hard work they raised a fabulous £326.07, however they have to do something with the money for the charity and so the group decided to buy toiletries and put together packs to go into our Milly Bags.  We absolutely love this at Milly’s Smiles, the packs are amazing and are now in the next batch of bags ready to go to Ward 84.   Thank you to the whole team who worked so enthusiastically for us, it was a pleasure to meet you all.

We were lucky enough to attend the Annual Ward 84 party at Victoria Baths, Manchester recently.  The party is organised by parents of Ward 84 children.  Words cannot really do justice to how amazing this day is, not only for the children but for their parents and siblings.  It gives them the chance to be ‘normal’ kids again, to laugh, sing, dance and forget all about chemotherapy, injections, infusions and thumb pricks.  People come together from all walks of life offering their talents and services for free, ensuring everyone has an amazing time.  This year was no exception, it was truly heartwarming to see all these children smiling, hearing their laughter and looking at their faces, money cannot put a price on that.  No-one is forgotten at the party, there is a dedicated room for all the Ward 84 Angels, this room is truly beautiful and heartbreaking, every year more children’s pictures are placed in this room.  Milly is in this room, she never made it to the ward 84 party as she was having further chemotherapy in preparation for a second bone marrow transplant.  If you ever needed a reason to be happy and thankful for all you have, you just need to see these amazing children, they are truly life’s heroes.

Milly’s Smiles have provided 258 Milly Bags to families on Ward 84 since we started in March 2016. Initially when I knew that I wanted to start a charity in Milly’s name, I wasn’t sure what exactly I would do, the only things I was sure of was that I wanted Milly’s name to live on, and I wanted to help children and families going through one of the worst times of their lives. I was conscious that we had been helped by a lot of amazing charities and in setting up Milly’s Smiles, I didn’t want to upset other charities by doing a similar thing to them, so I had to think long and hard about what I would do in Milly’s name. Initially we provided Welcome Bags that eventually became known as Milly’s Bag (which we love), we have received amazing, emotional feedback from families we have helped and this has encouraged us to continue with this amazing legacy to Milly.

We were thrilled to be invited back to meet with the Friends of Shireburn, who have spent the last 12 months working hard and fundraising for us, after choosing us as their charity of the year for 2017/8.

We were present with a cheque for £1812.12 which is an amazing amount and will allow us to continue making a difference to families from all over the North West of England who are admitted onto Ward 84.

A special mention goes to Von, who has worked so tirelessly for us, and always goes above and beyond to ensure everyone gets involved. Her hard work and determination has certainly paid off, thank you so much to everyone who has supported us over the last 12 months,

On the 30th May 2017, Jayne, Stuart and their daughter Jessica were sent by ambulance to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital after an appointment with their local doctor.  They arrived at Manchester just with the clothes they were wearing, but straight away they were given a Milly Bag, which helped their daughter Jessica greatly.  She cuddled the hand knitted elephant and cuddled under her blanket.  Without some of the basic items in the bags, items which most people take for granted, their initial few days would have been even more unbearable.  Jayne says ‘we can never replay Milly’s Smiles for their generosity, but we can make a really good effort.  To do this we have signed up to clime The Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach on the 18th May at 6pm.  Some people are simply doing this for the fun of it (crazy people) but we are doing it to support one of the most generous charities we know of.  Unfortunately Milly’s Smiles is a charity that will always be needed as new patients will continue to be admitted onto Ward 84.  Knowing we will be helping Milly’s Smiles to provide their ongoing help to newly diagnosed families will make every metre climbed worth it.’

Jayne and Stuart were amazing and successfully climbed to the top of the Big One, supported by their beautiful daughter Jessica who is doing really well with treatment, and family and friends .  We were also honoured to be there to, and are so grateful for their kindness in supporting our charity.  Huge respect to you guys and massive well done on a great achievement.

A local Ukulele group have raised an amazing £872.64 for Milly’s Smiles, by holding raffles and other fundraising events.  We were invited to collect the cheque from the Ribble Valley Strummers this week, where we were treated to some excellent ukulele playing and singing, before being presented with a cheque.  Thank you to everyone who has supported us and donated, we are always so very grateful for every penny we receive, and it allows us to continue making a difference to families from all over the North West of England.

Last week Milly’s Smiles moved into new premises – we now have a dedicated office where all the items for our Milly Bags are stored safely and securely. Previously we have been keeping things over three different locations and the logistics of managing this became very difficult. We took the decision to take on some premises to allow us to have everything under one roof and easily accessible so that we can have bags ready made and good to go at a moments notice. We are based in Great Harwood and if anyone would like to call in and say hello we would love to see you 🌈. We are always so mindful that without everyone’s support and generosity we would not be able to do what we do and ultimately make a difference to families when they need us. Thank you each and everyone who supports us 💕🌈🎗

We were contacted by Jayne, who received a Milly Bag from us, when they were admitted onto Ward 84 last year.  This is what Jayne had to say:

We have been lucky enough to have 40 bracelets made especially for Milly’s Smiles By Erin Gift Shop – Darwen.  During the Christmas Period the shop ran a competition to find a local Lancashire based charity or fundraising group.  The charity with the most votes would win 75 By Erin Wish Bracelets, with a design chosen by them.  We were so lucky to be nominated many times and although we didn’t win, as runner up By Erin donated 40 personalised bracelets for us.  We absolutely love them, and we are selling them at £2.99 each. If you would like one (and they are selling very fast) please either contact us via our facebook page or email at hello@millyssmiles.org.  A huge thank you to By Erin Gift Shop and also to everyone who voted for us 🌈🎗😘