Millys SmilesWe are absolutely delighted to announce the return of our Spring Fair which promises to be even bigger and better than last year.
Bookings are now open for stalls, each stall is priced at £20, which must be settled at the time of booking to secure your space.
Last year, we enjoyed an amazing day with over 1,000 visitors gracing our event!
For further details, including a booking form, please get in touch via email at hello@millyssmiles.org.
One of our initial jobs last week was to load a pallet with 15 of our Milly Bags and arrange for their collection. We are truly fortunate to have these pallets generously donated by a nearby unit—our heartfelt thanks to Great Harwood Pallets.
The Milly Bags were swiftly gathered, loaded onto the van, and off on their journey to Ward E39 at Nottingham Children’s Hospital. Transporting bags in this manner to distant hospitals proves far more economical, allowing us to focus on other vital tasks while ensuring the safe delivery of our Milly Bags.
However, maintaining our relationship with each ward is very important to us, therefore we ensure that a few times each year, we personally make the deliveries. which is something we always enjoy.
Nottingham have now welcomed 105 Milly Bags, valued at £14,700. As always, we extend our gratitude to all who contribute and volunteer for us, your kindness really does warm our hearts.
Last week we made our first delivery of the year and also welcomed new volunteer Nik.
Nik has supported Milly’s Smiles since we began, by purchasing the gorgeous hand gels that we include in our toiletry packs. Nik collects these from America where she is a regular visitor due to the job she does.
Today she joined us in a different capacity by accompanying Graeme on a trip to The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, to drop off a supply of 20 Milly Bags.
We also took along boxes of extra toiletries for parents and some lovely colouring and activity books for the younger children, which were donated by staff from HMP Garth.
We have delivered a total of 960 Milly Bags to Manchester, over the last 8 years, and we are so proud to be making a difference every single day.
Huge thank you to Graeme, Nik and everyone who continues to support us, we could not do what we do without everyone’s incredible support.
In December, the amazing crew at HMP Garth flipped the trend with a reverse Advent Calendar! Instead of receiving little gifts each day, they donated toiletry items for Milly’s Smiles.
Deborah very kindly organised the whole collection and then made the journey over to our unit to safely deliver all the items, which were unpacked and organised for our fabulous Milly Bags.
A huge thank you to everyone involved for their heartwarming kindness and generosity, this really does make a huge difference to us.
A heartfelt thank you to the dedicated staff at SpecSavers in Blackburn for their remarkable collection of toiletries during the festive season. We were truly amazed by the generosity displayed, we continually need essential items such as shower gel, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, and baby wipes.
Each of these contributions plays a vital role in our Milly Bags, and your donations are greatly appreciated.
We extend our gratitude to everyone who has taken the time to donate; your kindness warms our hearts immensely.
We truly enjoy hearing about the diverse challenges that individuals undertake when they choose to fundraise for Milly’s Smiles. While we are immensely grateful for the donations—without which we could not fulfill our mission—it is also about the remarkable people behind the fundraising efforts and their reasons for selecting Milly’s Smiles.
One story that particularly moved us was that of Salahman, a 5-year-old diagnosed with leukemia at his local hospital in November after a visit to his doctor. Within hours, Salahman was rushed to Manchester Children’s Hospital with his mother Charlotte and father Shaz. Upon arriving at Ward 86, he started receiving blood and platelet transfusions, with chemotherapy beginning the very next day.
Never did Salahman’s mum expect to find themselves admitted to the Children’s Oncology Ward, and this meant they were totally unprepared for an unexpected hospital stay without personal belongings. Receiving their Milly Bag was described as the “most heartwarming gift,” providing not only essentials but also sentimental items that helped them process the situation.
In an effort to raise awareness about Salahman’s journey and funds for Milly’s Smiles, Charlotte’s sister Danielle and her husband Adam decided to take action. They recognised that the distance from their home in Burnley to Manchester Children’s Hospital was the same as a marathon, prompting Adam to decide to run this distance on Christmas Eve to generate awareness and donations. Adam also planned to collect pyjamas, noting how many Salahman needed daily due to treatment side effects and take these along with him.
On Christmas Eve, Adam set off early, dressed as an Elf, wearing a Milly’s Smiles T-shirt, whilst pushing a beautifully decorated pram filled with hundreds of pairs of pajamas. His route took him from Burnley, through Edenfield, Bury (via The Rock Shopping Centre due to his satnav!), and Prestwich, ultimately reaching The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital where he was warmly welcomed by the brave Salahman.
Despite facing challenging weather conditions—including rain, wind, and sleet—Adam persevered with the support of his children, family, and friends. It was heartwarming for us to witness live updates and videos on Facebook throughout his journey.
A huge thank you to Adam and his support team for this incredible achievement. We are truly humbled by your generosity and kindness. Adam has raised an impressive total of £5,270, which will fund over 37 Milly Bags—an incredible impact!
We send all our love to Salahman and his family, keeping them in our hearts and prayers as he continues his treatment journey.
We have had some incredible support over the Christmas period, and we send our very grateful thanks to;
Centra (British Gas) for their kind donation of £2000
McDermott Homes for their fundraising Christmas Jumper day, raising a fabulous £280
Ewood Foods for their generous donation of £1000
Muldoon Financial Planning for their generous donation of £200 in lieu of sending out Christmas Cards
Clayton Community Singers for donating a wonderful amount of £52 which was raised at a recent Carol concert.
BT Contact Centre in Accrington for raising a fantastic £152
The Railway Pub in Accrington for raising a wonderful amount of £260
Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (Official)for having a Christmas Grotto and taking Santa around town raising a marvelous amount of £405.68
A beautiful family from Alder Hey who have made a donation in memory of their son.
… and finally to the wonderful kind-hearted people who have made individual donations to us – we thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.
Truly, every single penny makes such a difference to us, we never take it for granted and we never fail to be humbled by everyone’s generosity.
In December, our charming town of Great Harwood transformed into a winter wonderland with a Christmas Extravanza that spanned three magical weekends! We were absolutely thrilled to be part of the grand finale, where stalls overflowed with goodies, food vendors served up tasty treats, and the entertainment was off the charts—with East 17 taking center stage for the ultimate Christmas showdown!
We had our own little corner of cheer with a stall brimming with stunning hand-knitted Christmas decorations, lovingly crafted and donated by the fabulous Maureen. Plus, we had a treasure trove of other decorations, including a dazzling Christmas Cake just waiting to be won in our raffle, which was kindly donated by Yvonne.
Little ones got to unleash their festive spirit with face painting magic, thanks to our wonderful volunteers, Karen and Danielle. Huge shoutout to all our amazing volunteers who braved the frosty air to help at our stall—you were fantastic!
Big thanks to Great Harwood Events for the invite and to everyone who popped by to support us. We jingled all the way to a fabulous £362.50 on the day!
Sadly children continue to get diagnosed with cancer even at Christmas time, so in December we headed over to Leeds Children’s Hospital with 20 more Milly Bags for Wards L31,32 and 33.
As always we were met by the wonderful Elaine who looked very festive in her Christmas top. We have been working with Elaine for many years now and she is meticulous at ensuring all new families receive a Milly Bag as soon as they arrive on the ward, she also takes responsibility for reordering more stock when needed.
Elaine is the most amazing lady I’ve ever had the honor of getting to know. She made our stay so warm in the bad times my son was going through . We were so thankful for a millies smiles bag in our stay and we still cherish it to this day . You are amazing all of you. Ward L31 mum.
The most special and important thing we ever received at the most horrendous time. 3.5 years since starting treatment this blanket is still my sons comfort. Ward L31 mum.
These bags are amazing. Elsie and I loved the blanket through our hospital stays , especially when in the isolation rooms , it kept us cosy. I always feel sad though as I know each bag will tell a story to another family and child going through the most horrific journey. Ward L31 mum.
Whilst we were at the hospital we made a quick visit onto the transplant ward to hand over some of our Bone Marrow Journals for their transplant families. We look forward to receiving feedback from the families later next year.
We feel very humbled that we are able to provide this support to so many children and families going through one of the most difficult times imaginable, and for that we thank everyone who continues to support us.
#millyssmiles#childrenscancer#charity#leeds#childrenshospital
Our December SOULS group became a festive wreath-making extravaganza, and was enjoyed by everyone who attended.
The wonderful Debbie from Ewood Florist took the lead, helping us craft some truly beautiful Christmas wreaths.
The atmosphere in our group is always relaxed and inviting—no pressure, no judgment! We warmly welcome bereaved parents, grandparents, and siblings to connect with others who genuinely understand the journey of loss.
We provide the snacks, the engaging activity, and a comfortable space for everyone to be themselves.
The session was a fantastic success, with everyone showcasing a lovely array of festive creations to admire.
A huge thank you to Debbie, everyone who participated, and a special mention to Asda Foundation Charity for their generous contribution that made this wreath-making experience possible!
