Author: Lorraine

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.

On Friday 8 April, Milly’s Smiles were invited to an evening presentation at Shireburne, where we were presented with a cheque for £1000 which had been raised by Friends of Shireburne over the last year.  It was a great evening, we were entertained by Ribble Valley Strummers, a very talented group of Ukele players of all ages, who had the whole room clapping and singing along!  We were also give a beautiful hamper made by one of the ladies from the group, which will be auctioned off at our charity ball later in the year.  Friends of Shireburne have also taken on Milly’s Smiles for their charity for 2017.  Massive thank you to this wonderful group of people for their generosity and hard work in raising such a fantastic amount for us.