We were thrilled to welcome the The BIBAs judges to Milly’s Smiles HQ last week, as part of the next stage in the awards process. We are so thrilled and incredibly proud that our charity has made it through to the finals!
We feel very honoured to be in the running alongside some incredible community organisations, and today gives us a chance to share what we do, why we do it, and introduce some of our incredible team who work so hard behind the scenes.
The big awards night is in September, wish us luck!
Last week we welcomed two very special volunteers to Milly’s Smiles HQ; Charlie (Milly’s much-loved dog) and her sister Matilda!
They took their roles very seriously, and their first task was to guard a pallet of 25 Milly Bags, which Graeme had prepared and was all ready to head off to Ward E39 at Nottingham Children’s Hospital.
We are very happy to report that the bags were safely collected (with no dog treats stolen in the process!), and even the driver happily posed for a quick photo before setting off!
This latest delivery brings us to a total of 145 Milly Bags provided to Nottingham which is 145 families supported during one of the most overwhelming times in their lives.
A huge thank you to Charlie and Matilda for their dedication, and to all our supporters who help make this possible we are so privileged to be able to make a difference every single day.
On 2nd January 2020, at just 5 years old, Harrison was diagnosed with Stage 4 Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. His parents had spent weeks battling escalating symptoms and unanswered questions before finally hearing the words no family ever wants to hear: “Your child has cancer.”
Harrison was sent to Ward 86 at Manchester Children’s Hospital, he was in kidney failure and too unwell to have the Hickman line fitted that he needed to begin treatment. Then, one terrifying night, he suffered a traumatic five-hour nosebleed and needed several blood transfusions.
Harrison was taken to ICU and placed on a ventilator due to complications which was such a frightening time for everyone. Thankfully, the rest and sleep helped his body recover just enough to begin the fight ahead.
It was during those early, disorienting days that his family received a Milly Bag. A small gesture that, in their words, “made us feel like we weren’t alone.” His rainbow blanket and elephant became daily comforts. Mum used the notebook to record vital information she couldn’t retain due to the stress and worry of what was going on. Even the toiletries were a lifeline when they had arrived at hospital with nothing at all with them.
Today, five years on, Harrison is doing incredibly well, he is a happy and strong young boy who continues to amaze everyone around him.
Recently, his family held a special celebration evening to mark five years in remission. We were honoured to be invited and thrilled that the evening raised an incredible £1,211, with a further £500 donated by Harrison’s aunty’s employer.
The whole evening was fabulous, made even more special by the presence of two of Milly’s wonderful nurses from Ward 86. But the most emotional moment of all was watching Harrison ring the End of Treatment Bell once more. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.
To Harrison’s family a huge thank you for inviting us to share your evening, and for choosing Milly’s Smiles to support. You are helping us to continue supporting children just like Harrison every single day.
Yesterday was a truly special day for Milly’s Smiles as we delivered our 1,000th Milly Bag to Ward 86 at The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.
It’s a moment that represents nine years of dedication, love, hard work, and support from the local community. Whilst the day was very emotional, it also provided a chance to reflect on how far we’ve come, and the difference we have been able to make to so many families.
Our very first delivery was made back in March 2016, to what was then Ward 84. Helen, one of our trustees, arrived at the entrance with 25 of our Milly Bags, only to be met by staff expecting a few small items on a little admin trolley, they were definitely not expecting the bag to be quite so big! The bags were an immediate success, the nurses loved having something positive to offer newly admitted families, and parents described them as a “hug in a bag” from someone who truly understood. Interestingly when we began supplying our bags we named them ‘Welcome Bags’ but slowly over time the parents referred to them as Milly Bags, which we loved and obviously were thrilled to rename them as such.
Over the years the bags have evolved with lots of extra items being added following feedback from families, which has resulted in them becoming the incredible bags that they are today.
When I began Milly’s Smiles, just a few months after losing Milly, I had no idea where the charity would go, my main motivation was to keep Milly’s memory alive whilst also helping and supporting families walking the same path Milly and I did.
Milly’s Smiles has been my saviour, the charity gave me a purpose and a reason for going on. Losing my beautiful daughter has been the single worst thing that has ever happened to me and I know I will never recover from being without her, however, Milly’s Smiles has allowed me to keep her with me every single day, and I am so grateful for that.
Yesterday was such an honour for our charity, we have supported every new admission onto the children’s oncology unit without fail, we have never left the ward without bags, and have never reneged on our promise to support families every single day. Not only that but we have expanded our support to other oncology families across a large part of the country, and I am so very proud of all that we have achieved.
Our team were extremely well looked after yesterday, they had the chance to speak to many families, children and staff who looked after Milly when she was on the ward. A couple of our team managed to get themselves a lovely tattoo from Tallulah who had set up her own studio beside her bed! We received some beautiful cards from the children and these will be displayed in our unit and treasured forever. It was especially wonderful to have a visit from Helen, who was the Ward Manager when Milly was being treated, and was instrumental in helping us get our Milly Bags onto the ward 9 years ago.
It wasn’t an easy decision to acknowledge the 1,000th delivery, we were all conscious that we didn’t want it to become a celebration, but we knew that we had to do something to recognise all that we have done. It was lovely that all the families we spoke with validated our feelings, telling us we should be acknowledging the day, as the difference we make to their journey is huge.
I feel sure Milly will have been watching the team yesterday, and will have loved seeing some of her nurses, especially the ‘real’ Becky, who kindly had her photo taken with Gemma! She really will be so proud of what we do in her name, and the difference we make to children just like her.
Last year, we were blown away by the support of four incredible people, Natalie, her husband Simon, and their friends Tom and Martin who organised a charity football match in memory of a very special young girl, Olivia, who sadly passed away in 2021.
We were thrilled when this year, the team chose to support Milly’s Smiles for the second year running, a decision which they said was so easy, after visiting our unit and seeing first-hand how we support children and families. Thanks to their phenomenal fundraising last year, they played a key role in helping us expand our support to children at Oxford Hospitalwhich was a huge deal for us!
This year’s Olivia’s Charity Match was another unforgettable day. The sun shone, the crowds came out in force, and the atmosphere was full of fantastic community spirit. From the exciting football match to the fantastic stalls, entertainment, and tasty food it was a day packed with fun and purpose.
The total raised was an absolutely incredible £10,866! A truly staggering amount that far exceeded our expectations and is a real testament to the hard work, passion, and dedication of everyone involved.
As if that wasn’t enough, the team also collected over 400 toiletry items for our Milly Bags and delivered them to our unit this week. It was so lovely to welcome them and say thank you again in person.
A very special mention goes to Olivia and her amazing parents. There are no words that can ease the pain of losing a child. But to channel that heartbreak into helping others is one of the bravest, most generous things a person can do. Their strength, love, and desire to keep Olivia’s memory alive by making a difference to other families is nothing short of inspirational.
From all of us at Milly’s Smiles a huge thank you for everything.
This week is Volunteer Week and at Milly’s Smiles we want to give a huge shout out to all our incredible volunteers.
Every single one of them plays a vital role in helping us support families when their world has been turned upside down by a childhood cancer diagnosis. Their kindness, dedication, and willingness to help is at the very heart of everything we do.
Whether it’s:
Packing or delivering Milly Bags
Helping with crafts or knitting our wonderful rainbow elephants
Providing admin and office support
Assisting at events, running stalls or painting faces
Helping with bids and fundraising applications
Giving talks in the community
Or simply being there whenever we need a helping hand…
Each volunteer brings something unique and valuable to our charity and we simply couldn’t do what we do without them.
From everyone at Milly’s Smiles, thank you…… Thank you for your time, your care, your compassion, and for helping us to make a difference at a time when families feel their entire world has collapsed.
Some days you just know you will remember forever, and our Spring Fair was certainly way up there. We had been planning this event for almost 12 months and we wanted to put on an even better day than last year if that was possible.
All our wonderful volunteers came back on board along with some wonderful new recruits too. Everyone was amazing and nothing was too much trouble.
After weeks of watching the weather the actual day came around really fast, and we were so lucky that the sun beamed down for us for the whole of the day.
We had well over 3,000 visitors which was just amazing to see and way beyond our expectations, it was wonderful to see every single person there.
The event was supported by a huge amount of local businesses and community groups and we would like to thank each and every person that came along and supported us, whether that be as a volunteer, trader, visitor, local community group or business. We feel very honoured to have had you all there with us.
All the money is in, we have finally finished counting, and are therefore extremely thrilled to announce that our Spring Fair has raised an amazing £6,156.52!
Every single pound will help us support children and families who are admitted into hospital after their child has been diagnosed with a cancer related illness.
Thank you from every single one of us at Milly’s Smiles, you have helped us to make a real difference and we are so grateful to you all.
A few weeks ago, we received a lovely email from two Year 9 students from The Hyndburn Academy. Evelyn and Phoebe wrote to ask if they could volunteer with Milly’s Smiles as part of their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award.
As a community focused charity, we were delighted to welcome them to our unit in Great Harwood, and over the past few weeks, Evelyn and Phoebe have visited us three times. Twice after school to help pack Milly Bags (which they did beautifully!) and today during their half-term break, where they put together the toiletries and wash bags that sit in the side pocket of our Milly Bags.
From the outset, Evelyn and Phoebe were an absolute pleasure to have, both girls have been polite, committed, and enthusiastic about supporting our work. They showed a genuine interest in what we do, asking thoughtful questions about the contents of the Milly Bags and taking the time to understand how each item supports families during their hospital stay. Their interest went far beyond simply volunteering, they truly wanted to understand the impact of our work.
Wanting to go one step further, and support us financially, Evelyn and Phoebe organised and completed an incredible fundraising challenge. They undertook an 11km hike up Blencathra, via the famously demanding ‘Sharp Edge’ route. Not only did they face this challenge with determination and courage, they also planned and coordinated the entire event themselves, with support from their families
Their efforts have raised just over £1,000 which will help us continue supporting families facing a childhood cancer diagnosis. This is an outstanding achievement that will make a massive difference to families arriving into hospital unexpectedly.
We are so proud of everything Evelyn and Phoebe have accomplished. Their initiative, resilience, and compassion are shining examples of what young people can achieve when they put their hearts into something.
Thank you so much girls, we really are grateful for your support.
A huge shout out to the incredible Breanna, who this weekend took on the challenge of running the Edinburgh Marathon for Milly’s Smiles.
To reach the start line after months of hard training is a massive achievement in itself, and to then cross the finish line is nothing short of inspiring.
Breanna committed to 504 miles of training over 6 months in preparation for the main event yesterday, and completed the marathon in just 3 hours, 56 minutes and 5 seconds which is just incredible!
Because of Breanna’s efforts and the incredible generosity of everyone who donated, shared her fundraiser, or sent messages of encouragement, a massive £1,745 (and counting!) has been raised , which will all help us to continue making a difference at a time when families feel their entire world has collapsed.
From all of us at Milly’s Smiles, thank you, thank you, thank you, enjoy your well-earned rest, you have absolutely earned it and we are so very proud of you.
A HUGE thank you to the brilliant team at Nightingales Garage in Great Harwood!
Throughout the month of April, these wonderful people decided to support Milly’s Smiles in the most generous way, they decided to donate £5 from every job they carried out. From MOTs to mystery rattles, they turned spanners into smiles, and by the end of the month had raised an incredible £855!
But their kindness didn’t stop there, the team have been amazing cheerleaders for us too, by sharing our posts, spreading the word about what we do, and even popping down to support our events in person.
We are beyond grateful for their continued support, thank you Nightingales, for your amazing generosity and for helping us to make a difference every day to children newly diagnosed with cancer.
