Author: Rick Wilson

Hoorah!  We have successfully delivered our first batch of Welcome Bags to Ward 84.  The nurses were very impressed and said the bags far exceeded their expectations.  We could not have done this without you and your support, we are very proud to know that over the next days/weeks/months and years families whose lives have been turned upside down will be given a bag full of our thoughts, in the hope that it will make a child’s journey that little bit easier.

Several local schools, including Milly’s old primary school Our Lady & St Hubert’s held a Smile for Milly Day, in remembrance of Milly’s transplant birthday.  St Augustine’s RC High School, raised a fabulous amount of £50.75 by selling a staff selfie quiz for pupils to purchase.  Great idea, we love anything with smiles. The school has also held a toothbrush and toothpaste drive in school, and year 7 pupils have been so generous in donating these items for our welcome bags.  We collected 3 full boxes from the school, which will be much appreciated by the families in hospital.

Our Lady and St Hubert’s day involved pupils taking into school items, drawings and memories of things that made them smile.  These were displayed on boards around the piano (which has been donated to the school in honour of Milly).  The day coincided with the delivery of a friendship bench to the school in remembrance of Milly, which was perfect timing indeed. St Wulstan’s RC School in Great Harwood also supported Smile for Milly Day, and again pupils spoke about things that made them smile.  Together both schools raised £600 – thank you to everyone who supported and contributed to the day.

Family and friends of Milly ran the Vitality Half Marathon in London on 20th March, which was Milly’s transplant birthday.  13.1 miles was successfully accomplished and they all managed to finish before the road sweepers arrived to clean up the roads!  An amazing day, with over £1500 raised.  Well done guys – here’s to the Manchester 10K in May!

Our fashion show was a huge success – we have raised over £1660.00.  Our compere for the evening Mrs Smith was a total hit with the audiences and had them in the palm of her hand.  Dancers and models were very beautiful and professional and put on an amazing display of dances for everyone.  A fantastic evening was had by all who came a we thank you so very much for supporting us.

We are awaiting our official charity number, the Charity’s Commission has acknowledged our application which was sent early December and has informed us that we should be given a Registration Number by 15 March 2016.

The Welcome Bags are almost ready to go to the hospital.  We are very excited about them, a lot of hard work has gone into the whole bag.  We wanted to make sure that what we give to the families is useful and needed, whilst also providing them with some comfort items too.  We have a Celebrity from a well-known soap who has been involved in the packs and has offered their support to the charity when taking the bags to the hospital.  Watch this space for more information!

Alongside the Welcome Bags, we are also working on a Journal for all the children who are admitted onto the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, and in true Milly’s Smiles style, this will be a bespoke journal, designed by Milly’s mum.  This is still in its early stages but we will keep you  informed about its progress.

We will shortly be selling merchandise online – keep checking our page for more information.