Millys SmilesA massive shoutout to Karen at Asda Accrington for her incredible generosity! The donation of fantastic raffle prizes for our upcoming Fashion Show & Afternoon Tea, along with water and snack bars for our Danceathon next month, means the world to us.
This support helps make these events even more special, and we truly appreciate it! Thank you for being amazing.
Get Ready to Dance Through the Decades!
Join us on Saturday 15th March from 1 pm to 4 pm for an epic dance party spanning the 80s, 90s, 00s, and today! Fancy dress is totally encouraged (the more outrageous, the better!) — think leg warmers, baggy jeans, or whatever makes you feel fabulous.
What’s included:
Entrance fee: £25
Contact Lorraine at hello@millyssmiles.org to book your place.
Come ready to sweat, groove, and make some unforgettable memories!
After the Christmas period, it was lovely to come together for our first monthly SOULS group of the year. We are a friendly space for bereaved parents, grandparents, and siblings to connect, share, and support one another.
This month we got creative with mosaic tiles, making beautiful coasters, and hanging hearts. It was lovely to see everyone and hear about their Christmas. There was lots of chatting and laughter as everyone was really pleased to see each other again. People can often be mislead about our groups, mistakenly thinking that they are very sad, but that is not the case at all. We provide a safe welcoming space, where everyone is welcome and where there are never any expectations.
Thanks to everyone who came along and made it such a warm and uplifting session. We’re looking forward to seeing you next month!
We 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.
