Author: Lorraine

Joe’s cousin Jude was recently diagnosed with an osteosarcoma, his diagnosis came as a huge shock for his family, and they found themselves in a whirlwind of activity as Jude’s treatment started very quickly.  Joe told us that Milly’s Smiles were a huge help for the family when they were admitted onto Ward 84 at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, and after seeing the support that we provide to families he has decided to raise some money to allow us to support other families who find themselves in a similar situation.

Joe and his dad took on the Tough Mudder challenge on September 10th, which was a 16k  mud and obstacle course designed to drag you out of your comfort zone by testing your physical strength, stamina, and mental grit.

Judging by the after picture a great time was had by the pair of them, well done guys and thank you for supporting us and raising an amazing amount of money. 

During our visit to Poulton St Chad’s C E Primary School, a young boy came and introduced himself and told us he had done an 18mile bike ride with his dad to raise money for Milly;s Smiles.  Upon delving further we were extremely impressed, to say the least, at how much training, and hard work and effort Matthew had been putting into getting ready for the ride and the actual ride itself.  We got in touch with Matthew’s dad and he told us how hard Matthew has worked, and what the charity means to him….

Since a relatively young age, perhaps the age of 7, my son Matthew has been aware of cancer. Luckily this hasn’t been through close family members suffering from the disease. I think his awareness has largely been through what he has picked up from the radio or television, and his inquisitive nature has led him to ask us, his parents, lots of questions. We have always been honest with Matthew about cancer, both the sad news but also balancing this with how through research more and more people are surviving cancer. So when his friend Megan became ill, Matthew had a good understanding of what having cancer meant but at the same time was naturally very concerned. In fact his whole class were significantly affected by this, perhaps especially so because as part of a community school they are so close. Megan has been very open with her class mates about what she has been going through and has shared her journey with them. As a 10 year old Matthew had a lot of worry on his shoulders. He desperately wanted to do something to help but he just didn’t know where to start. Then Milly’s Smiles came to St Chad’s school in Poulton-Le-Fylde and talked about the amazing work they did to help families who were coping with cancer. Matthew was so inspired by the stories he heard and was warmed by the very practical help the charity gave to both the children and parents of those at the beginning of cancer treatment, and the immediate emotional difference this support made. It was this very day that Matthew came home knowing how he could do something ‘positive’: taking part in the Beaverbrooks 18 Miles Bike Ride and raising money! We had already talked about doing the ride as a fun challenge but now it took on a new meaning. We discussed ‘how much’ we thought we could raise but didn’t get too hung up on this because we believed even small amounts can make a difference. So we set up a Just Giving page and got started with a target of £100. Interestingly, Matthew knew that if he was asking people for money, he needed to show them that he was going to try his very best. We therefore spent the weeks before event regularly training and would be out on our bikes no matter what the weather. He showed enormous commitment throughout. His Uncle Sean (my brother) was also hugely inspired by the work of Milly’s Smiles and Matthew’s mission and joined us for part of the ride. The day itself was great. The weather was kind to us and Matthew cycled with huge determination. Out of the 3 of us he certainly had the hardest job. To explain further, at around the 15 mile mark, Matthew said his bike was getting hard to pedal. After a quick check everything seemed okay. It was only as we neared the end that it became clear that Matthew’s front break had been catching. So he was basically cycling with his front break partly on! Oops! Throughout the ride we took pictures and kept all our supporters informed about how we were getting on and even tried to make them all jealous at the supply of jelly babies we had. We finished the ride and overall Matthew managed to raise £295. He was so incredibly proud and overwhelmed at the support and generosity people showed him. He didn’t even know some of these people. Word spread about what he was doing and people just decided to help! Uncle Sean managed to raise £350, much of which came from his fantastic colleagues at Royal Mail in Blackpool, and he generously decided to add this to our overall total. They say that from small acorns grow big oak trees. What started as a 10 year old boy wanting to make a difference ended with a donation of £645 being made to Milly’s Smiles. But the overall benefits are much more than money. It’s about community spirit and people coming together, and as Matthew’s dad I could not be more proud of my son.

WOW! Matthew, you are an amazing, kind young man, and we thank you so much for all your hard work and for the amazing amount of money you have raised for us.

After one for their pupils received a Welcome Bag from Milly’s Smiles, Poulton St Chad’s have been extremely pro-active in fundraising for us.  Today we were asked to return to the school, this time to meet the After School Club team who had been busy, not only raising money for us, but also collecting shower gels, shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrushes to go into our bags.  We were honoured to return to the school, the pupils and staff always make us feel extremely welcome and it is lovely to be able to say thank you to all the pupils and staff who are supporting us in such a great way.  We were presented with a cheque for £500, which was from the proceeds of cakes sales,  and we received 3 huge boxes of toiletries for our bags.  Thank you so much to everyone who has supported us and donated – it means so much to the charity and the families whom we are supporting.

We were overwhelmed to receive £820 from the lovely Cathy Bell who asked for donations to Milly’s Smiles at her 64th Birthday.  The party looked amazing, there was a Hollywood theme and the birthday lady entertained her guests when she played a guitar set with friends and had her rock choir singing.  We are loving the birthday cake and can’t believe Cathy is actually 64!  Thank you so much to everyone who donated and thank you to Cathy for choosing to support Milly’s Smiles – You Rock!

We have been asked by the Bone Marrow Team if we would be able to offer something similar to our Welcome Bag, for patients being admitted onto BMTU who have not received a Milly’s Bag.  Always happy to help, Milly’s Smiles put together a Welcome Backpack for any families that have come for transplant and have not previously been treated on Ward 84.  The backpack contains a Milly’s Rainbow blanket, a thermal cup, a juice bottle and the Bone Marrow Transplant Journal. and of course our Milly’s Smiles Elephant.  Our first delivery of backpacks were sent in June and are already being put to good use.

On Saturday 17 June 2017, we held our first official charity ball at The Foxfields Hotel, Billington.  The evening was supported by over 100 people who were all dressed in their best finery and intent on having a great evening.  The event was compered by Lewis Birtwwell, who kept the whole evening running smoothly.  Lewis provided entertainment with a great array of songs which had everyone up on the dance floor throwing some impression and interesting shapes!  The auction was a huge success as was the raffle, and we thank everyone who donated prizes and who bought tickets and auction prizes.  During the meal people were entertained by the fabulous Harrison Houghton, who thrilled audiences with his magic tricks and left everyone wanting more.  A very successful and fun evening that was enjoyed by everyone who was there, and a huge total of £4602 was raised!

After one of their pupils received a Milly’s Welcome Bag, Poulton St Chad’s C of E Primary School set about fundraising for us.  They held a crazy hair day which was so well supported and both teachers and pupils alike had great fun.  One teacher was even brave enough to allow his head to be shaved for our cause – over £1000 was raised by the school.  The after school club have also been busy,  holding a cake sale which raised £500 for us.  The school are also having a collection of toothbrushes, toothpaste and shower gels to donate to Milly’s Bags.  The school are aware first hand, just how vital our bags are for families during their initial time on the ward, and we would thank to thank all the pupils, staff and families for all their support and generosity.

A few weeks ago the 100th Welcome Bag was given out to this gorgeous little boy Matthew and his family.  The bag and its contents have been so useful to the whole family, they are especially thrilled with the thermometer, which is a recent addition to the bags.  When children are allowed home for a short while it is vital that parents have a thermometer to monitor their child’s temperature as any increase can be an indication of infection. These items are quite expensive at a time when parents may not be working when caring for their child, thankfully by incorporating them into the bags it is saving families a necessary expense.

Dexter is almost 21 months into his 42 month treatment plan for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.  To celebrate hitting the halfway point, his family have decided to get Dexter’s haircut for the first time in 2 years!  Dexter’s amazing personality has helped him through the last 21 months, the drugs are working for him and his family are thrilled to have their little boy back and enjoying life.  He is has a long way to go until he rings the end of treatment bell in December 2018, and until then his journey will continue to be a roller coaster ride.  Dexter still receives daily chemo given orally by his parents along with IV chemo once a month.  He has 5 days of steroids every month and a lumber puncture every 3 months.  Because the chemo supresses Dexter’s immune system his is prone to picking up bugs and if his temperature rises above 38.5 he has to be admitted into hospital for 2 days of IV antibiotics.  We think Dexter is so brave and is doing a fantastic job, Well done Dexter – keep up the good work.

A lovely kind-hearted lady, Gemma recently turned 40, and instead of having gifts, Gemma asked all friends to attend her birthday evening empty handed, but to make a donation to Milly’s Smiles.  As you can see from the photos, a fantastic evening was had by all, and a fantastic amount of £610 was raised by Gemma and her friends.  This means so much to us at Milly’s Smiles, it allows us to continue helping new families admitted onto Ward 84, by providing our Welcome Bag to them.  The bag is continually evolving and we have recently had to increase the size of the bag as we add more items!  Without people’s kindness and generosity we would not be able to continue to do this.  We thank Gemma and everyone who donated to us, from the bottom of our hearts.