Author: Lorraine

August has been our busiest month for a long time, we have delivered to the Children’s Hospitals at Nottingham, Oxford, Manchester, Leeds and yesterday to Liverpool.

A total of 100 Milly Bags have left our unit this month, thankfully we have had some brilliant volunteers who have packed the bags for us, which has ensured we have been ready to make a delivery at a moments notice.

Yesterday, Graeme headed over to Alder Hey and was met by Pip, from the play team who helped him unload the bags, she then took them safely off to Ward 3B.

Normally we try and have 2 people on deliveries, however Graeme was on his own yesterday so only managed a couple of photos as he was juggling the weather, loading the bags into the cage and negotiating with the parking attendant!

A total of 430 Milly Bags have now been sent to Alder Hey, and we feel very privileged that we are able to offer this support to all families whose child has been newly diagnosed with cancer.

Thank you for all our fundraisers, supporters, bag packers and volunteers who continue to believe in Milly’s Smiles. We make a difference every single day.

Yesterday was a huge day for us – we made our first delivery to Kamran’s Ward at Oxford Children’s Hospital!

Earlier this year I met one of the Oncology Consultants from Oxford at a Children’s Cancer Conference, and since then I have been speaking with the Ward Manager about the possibility of Milly’s Smiles supporting their newly diagnosed children.

Yesterday, after weeks of planning, everything came together and Graeme and I travelled 190 miles to Oxford, with 20 Milly Bags for Kamran’s Ward (which is the Children’s Oncology Ward).

On arrival, we were greeted by Karen, the Ward Manager, and Angela, the Housekeeper, who kindly helped load the bags into a cage which we then took up to the ward.

It always feels strange to go onto a ward, I feel instantly transported back in time to when Milly and I walked onto Ward 84 at Manchester for the first time. Whilst feeling exceptionally proud of what we are achieving for Milly, I also feel so sad that this is now my world, a world without Milly, a world where I work every day to keep her memory and legacy alive.

We were given a tour around the ward, and met some of the staff working there. Children’s cancer wards are always such bright positive places and this was no different. Kamran’s Ward is a 9 bedded ward which makes them one the smallest, in terms of beds, that we support, however, they are one of the busiest, with around 130 new admissions each year.

To support the ward for a year will cost Milly’s Smiles £18,200, we feel so proud to be able to take on this commitment and will continue to provide our Milly Bags for as long as the Ward will let us.

Each time we take on a new hospital it is always because of the unfailing support we get from the wider community, every donation, fundraising activity, every toiletry item that we receive really does make such a difference – a difference that means we can expand into more hospitals.

Thank you to everyone who continues to support us, this is all possible because of you.

Linda is one of our long term elephant knitters and she called into the unit recently to drop off another gorgeous herd that she had created.

“I have been knitting elephants for Milly’s Smiles since 2019. I used to work in nursing, either in maternity or out on evening visits around the Ribble Valley. Unfortunately a work related accident meant I had to find a different role.

I have always used knitting as a way of relaxing, but my accident meant that I was only able to manage small projects. Hence knitting the elephants for the wonderful Milly’s Smiles. This allows me to continue enjoying my hobby whilst also giving me a sense of purpose too.”

Linda has knitted around 400 elephants over the last 5 years which is just incredible.

Our elephant knitters are all a huge part of our team at Milly’s Smiles, and we are so grateful to each and every one of them.

Our pattern is available to download from our website for any interested knitters.

For just over 12 months we have been supporting Ward E39 at Nottingham Children’s Hospital with our Milly Bags.

Today we sent over a third delivery, taking the total number of bags to 75, however our delivery today was slightly different in that a pallet company took the bags for us, and will deliver them to the hospital on Friday.

Because we are still very new on Ward E39 we have not had much feedback from families whom we have supported, and whilst this is totally expected, it does always warm our hearts when we do hear from families.

Today, Charlie’s mum sent some lovely photos of her son when he was given a Milly Bag after he was admitted recently with sepsis and treated on PICU. Charlie was initially diagnosed in May 2021 with leukaemia, at that time we were not supporting the ward and so Charlie did not have a bag. (Treatment for boys with leukaemia is over 3 and a half years, so Charlie is still having ongoing treatment).

Because Charlie’s admission was totally unexpected and he was looking at a prolonged stay in hospital the ward gave him a Milly Bag, which Charlie loved and mum found really helpful.

We are forever thankful that we are able to make a difference to children and their families every day, and we send lots of love and strength to Charlie as he approaches the end of his treatment.

Last week a team from Avidly UK & Canada took on the Yorkshire 3 Peaks Challenge, as part of their ongoing support for Milly’s Smiles.

The 3 Peaks consists of a 24-mile (38.6km) round trip route, and includes a 1585m (5200ft) ascent taking on the peaks of Pen-y-Ghent (694 metres), Whernside (736 metres) and Ingleborough (723 metres), with the aim to complete the whole challenge in under 12 hours.

This amazing group experienced some very gruelling weather throughout the day, but they did fantastic and managed to complete the 3 Peaks in just 11 hours! One of the team, Elle, took a Milly Smiles elephant along for the ride, and got a great photo at the top of each peak!

The challenge raised just over £1300 with more donations still coming in, this is almost 90% of their total target for the year.

Huge well done to the team and their support crew, we hope you have managed to have some well earned rest after such a physical challenge.

We really do feel very lucky to have such committed support from you all.

A huge thank you to Megan who along with her sister Paige recently organised a fundraiser for Milly’s Smiles.

Megan’s son received a Milly Bag when he was admitted onto Ward L31 at Leeds Children’s Hospital.

A Cocktail event was hosted by their good friend Katherine at her home, and was based on a western theme and included raffle prizes and auction items. Everyone got into the western spirit on the day with some fabulous costumes on display.

The day raised a fantastic amount of £1,000, which included a donation of £200 from Pinehurst Contracting Ltd. This amount was then match funded by Lloyds Bank taking the total to a fantastic £2,000.

Every single penny that we receive makes such a difference to us, and when families whom we have supported with a Milly Bag fundraise for us, that means the world. Thank you so much to everyone involved, we are more than grateful for this support.

At Milly’s Smiles we have a wonderful team of knitters from across the whole of the country. They sit quietly in the background, not asking for anything just wanting to support us in the best way they can.

One lovely lady is Debbie who has knitted a total of 128 elephants for us over the last few years, which is just incredible. Debbie came to the unit this week to bring her latest herd and she told us why she finds it so rewarding supporting us….

“Milly’s Smiles provided us with a touch of comfort just when our family needed it the most, during the difficult time when my granddaughter was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Their thoughtful bag contained everything my son, his wife and their daughter needed for their hospital stay.

The support we received was incredible, and knitting more rainbow elephants is the least my daughter and I can do”

Milly’s Smiles feel very blessed to have this support, the elephants are the first thing to be seen when the Milly Bag is opened and we know they are loved by everyone no matter what their age they are.

If anyone is interested in knitting for us the link to the pattern can be found on the website. If any of our knitters would like to get in touch to tell us their story we would love to tell it for them.

In May of this year The Davies Partnership in Chester held a Charity Golf Day in which colleagues, clients and friends came together to support Milly’s Smiles and The Brain Tumour Charity.

This was done in memory of a very special young man, Bobby Spencer. Bobby was diagnosed and treated for a brain tumour at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, and it was there that he received his Milly Bag. Bobby’s brave family chose Milly’s Smiles as one of the charities they wished to support.

Our Chair of Trustee’s Gemma went along to the event to represent the charity and to talk about our work and the difference we make to families like Bobby’s. Gemma was fortunate to meet Bobby’s parents and she was left with a lasting impression of how incredibly brave and dignified they are in dealing with their loss of their precious son.

The actual day was blessed with lots of sunshine and 21 teams took to the course. Following on from the golf there was an auction where there was an exciting battle to win a Jurgen Klopp shirt!

It was clear to see how much hard work and organisation went into the event, and we were very blessed to have been supported by this amazing team.

Last week Gemma and I met up with Tony and Jessica from The Davies Partnership where they handed over a cheque for £13,055, we also received a donation of £500 which was match funded by Lloyds Bank. A further donation was received from Radium Security Systems taking the grand total raised to an incredible £14,310.00!

A huge thank you to everyone involved, this is just incredible and will allow us to now start looking at securing another hospital to support. Every penny really makes such a difference to us.

A special mention goes to Bobby and his family, whilst we are incredibly grateful for this support, it comes because a family has lost their precious son, and that can never be celebrated. We send all our love and support to Bobby’s parents and siblings and we will always keep Bobby in our hearts and thoughts.