Category: News

Our chilly start this morning was made much warmer when we received a lovely welcome from Elaine at Leeds Children’s Hospital.

Earlier today, Graeme and Mark braved the bitter cold and trekked over the Pennines to deliver 20 more Milly Bags to the wonderful team at Leeds Children’s Hospital.

They were warmly greeted by the lovely Elaine, who always makes our visits feel so appreciated. It really is a pleasure to see her standing at the entrance with her trolley ready and waiting for us!

Elaine is incredibly efficient in managing our Milly Bags, she even collects feedback from families a few days after receiving their bag, which we absolutely love. Knowing the difference the bags make means the world to us.

From our very first delivery in October 2019 to today, we have now provided 430 Milly Bags to families in Leeds at a cost of £60,200!

We are so proud to be able to continue supporting the incredible team at Leeds, and so grateful to everyone who helps make mornings like this possible, our volunteers, donors, and everyone who believes in Milly’s Smiles.

Together, we really are making a difference when families feel their world has collapsed.

Today has been an incredibly exciting and emotional day for Milly’s Smiles!

Graeme and I set off bright and early for Cambridge, travelling down to deliver our very first Milly Bags to our 7th hospital, Addenbrooke’s Children’s Hospital. The journey was smooth, but the weather was varied, we began with torrential rain, snow, sleet and then as we approached Cambridge the sun finally came out to greet us!

As we arrived 2 lovely ladies from the Play Team were waiting to greet us, they both helped us load the trolley with the Milly Bags (and goodies for the nurses). Once on the ward we received a lovely welcome from Helen and her fabulous team on Ward C2.

All the staff were warm, engaged, and genuinely delighted to receive their Milly Bags. Seeing their enthusiasm and hearing how much these bags will mean to families, reinforced our drive to support as many families as we possibly can.

And for a little added joy… as we were chatting, one of the nurses overheard Graeme from the corridor and thought he was Peter Kay! Honestly, that absolutely made our day!

As we drove home, we couldn’t help but think about how far we’ve come. It’s almost 10 years since the very first Milly Bag went out. Back then, I was working from my dining room table, with all the stock crammed into my garage. I never imagined, not even for a moment, that we would grow into a charity supporting almost half the country’s children’s oncology wards.

To now be standing in Addenbrooke’s Hospital, delivering our Milly Bags filled with comfort, hope and love feels nothing short of incredible.

Every single Milly Bag carries a piece of Milly with it, and knowing that her light now reaches families in seven hospitals across England and Wales means everything to us.

We are so proud to be making a difference when families feel their world has collapsed and it is only possible because of the unbelievable support we receive.

Thank you to everyone for believing in us, walking with us, and helping Milly’s Smiles reach more families than we ever dreamed possible.

Yesterday we came together for our 11th Annual Walk for Milly, and what a wonderful day it was!

The turnout was incredible and it was lovely to see so many smiling faces, ready join us in our walk, there were lots of familiar faces as well as lots of new faces too, which is always lovely to see.

The weather was very kind to us, and everyone enjoyed a rain free three-mile route, in fact we were even treated to a sprinkling of sunshine at times! The route was brilliantly manned by Be Strong volunteers who did a fabulous job, ensuring everyone got round safely and no one was left behind.

Halfway round, walkers were treated to a chocolate pick-me-up, and on return to the unit, waiting for them were very tasty sausage sandwiches, hot drinks, and Milly’s birthday cupcakes, lovingly served by our wonderful volunteers.

We were especially honoured to have several families from Ward 86 join us. Seeing them there reminded us all as to why Milly’s Smiles exists and why we do what we do.

Milly’s walk is always about coming together to remember Milly as her birthday approaches, to celebrate her life, and to thank our community for the love and support shown over the past year.

It is not a fundraising event but people are so kind and do want to donate, and we are therefore thrilled to have raised a fantastic £674.91. Thank you so much to everyone who joined us, donated, volunteered, and shared the day with us, it really means the world,

And just when we thought the day couldn’t be any more perfect, as we locked up the unit a beautiful bright rainbow appeared in the sky!

#MillysSmiles #WalkForMilly #TogetherForMilly #MakingADifference #CommunityKindness

Last Friday we had the absolute pleasure of watching the brilliant band the Outside. Right from the start of the evening they had the whole place rocking, the dance floor was full, the music was fantastic, and the atmosphere was just incredible.

The band very kindly donated their fee for the evening, sold custom-designed T-shirts, and collected donations throughout the night. We are thrilled to say they raised an amazing £572.52 for Milly’s Smiles.

We are so grateful to the band for their generosity and energy, and to everyone who came along, danced, sang, and supported.

Your kindness truly helps us continue making a difference at a time when families feel their entire world has collapsed.

#MillysSmiles#TheOutsideBand#CharityGig#LiveMusic#ThankYou#CommunitySupport#MakingADifference

Twenty Milly Bags, packed with care,

Headed to Manchester with love to share.

Graeme and Mark, with smiles so wide,

Delivering our bags with love tucked inside.

Two boxes of journals joined the ride,

For children so brave on the transplant side.

A place to record each step they take,

Their strength, their courage, the memories they make.

It’s not just us who play a part,

It’s every supporter with a generous heart.

Together we’re stronger, together we care,

For children and families everywhere.

(Delivered 14/10/25)

#MillysSmiles#TogetherWeCare#SupportingFamilies

#ChildhoodCancerAwareness#CommunitySupport

We’d love you to join us on Sunday 2nd November at 11am for our annual walk to celebrate Milly’s birthday. We will be setting off from our unit in Great Harwood, BB6 7UA at 11am, and aim to be back for 1pm.

It might be a little wet and muddy, but it’s always heart-lifting, full of laughter, and a wonderful way to come together in Milly’s memory. Well behaved dogs are very welcome, unfortunately the route is not totally pram friendly due to areas of mud along the way. As always it is completely free to come along, although we do ask for a small donation towards the refreshments afterwards.

At the end of the walk there’ll be a very warm welcome, complete with hot drinks and a sausage buttie (the perfect reward after a stomp through the puddles!).

To help us plan, please let us know if you’ll be joining us it really helps us make sure there’s enough warmth, cheer, and sausages to go around!

#MillysSmiles #WalkForMilly #TogetherForMilly #Family #Community #CharityWalk #ChildhoodCancerAwareness #MakingADifference

We are so pleased to share that a further 20 Milly Bags have made their way to Ward E39 at Nottingham Children’s Hospital.

This latest delivery was carefully packed up here at Milly’s Smiles HQ and sent on its way by courier last Thursday. Huge thanks to Graeme, who once again did a brilliant job loading the pallet, he really is fab and does so much for the charity!

The delivery arrived safely on the ward this morning, ready to be given to families when their child is newly admitted to hospital. Each Milly Bag is filled with practical items and comforting touches to help families through those first, overwhelming days, at a time when their whole world has fallen apart.

Because Nottingham is quite a distance from our base in Great Harwood, we use a trusted courier service to ensure the bags arrive safely and promptly, without the long hours of travel that a personal delivery would take.

With this latest drop-off, we’ve now sent a total of 165 Milly Bags to Nottingham Children’s Hospital, which is an £23,100 worth of support for families facing childhood cancer.

We are so proud to be able to support such a wide area across the country and to know that Milly’s legacy continues to reach more families every month.

And there’s more exciting news to come… we’ll soon be adding our 7th hospital to the Milly’s Smiles family – watch this space for more info!

#MillysSmiles #MillysLegacy #ChildhoodCancerAwareness #SupportingFamilies #MakingADifference #HospitalSupport #OncologyFamilies #TogetherWeCan

This months SOULS group was full of fun, laughter, and lovely conversation as we gathered for our Halloween-themed session. The room was blessed at the start, setting a calm and comforting tone before we got creative.

Everyone enjoyed a fabulous Halloween treat box from the Lancashire Kitchen which was full of lovely goodies, and we accompanied this with lots of chat along with some craft making, where we made beautiful personalised seasonal baubles.

Our SOULS sessions run monthly and are open to parents, grandparents, and siblings who are living with the loss of their child, grandchild, or sibling. The sessions are completely free to attend, relaxed, and welcoming, we have no expectations from you and you will be with people who truly get it. Please get in touch if you would like to join us.

#MillysSmiles #SOULS #BereavementSupport #ChildLoss #Community #Togetherness #GriefSupport #LancashireCharity

We are so incredibly grateful to Cobden House Chambers for taking on the challenge of this year’s Manchester Half Marathon for Milly’s Smiles. This decision was inspired by their colleague Chloe, whose family were supported by us earlier this year.

When Chloe and Joe arrived on Ward 86 at Manchester Children’s Hospital, they did not realise they would be there for over a month, without going home. The first 48 hours was, for them, a whirlwind of life changing information, surgeries, and various procedures for Freddie all whilst being terrified of what his prognosis was. Having a welcome bag from Milly’s Smiles, which included a rainbow blanket and knitted elephant which Freddie has kept with him throughout his journey, was a welcome bit of comfort.

To say thank you, 25 amazing runners from Cobden House Chambers laced up their trainers and took on the Manchester Half Marathon.

Unfortunately for Freddie’s dad Joe, he felt obliged to also run the half marathon, having successfully avoided the running bug his whole life!

The whole team of runners did incredible and raised an eye-watering amount of £9466.00 which will help us continue supporting families like theirs.

We are sending all our love to Freddie and his family as he continues his treatment, and our heartfelt thanks to everyone at Cobden House Chambers for their dedication and their incredible kindness and support.

#MillysSmiles #TeamMillysSmiles #SupportingFamilies #ChildhoodCancerAwareness #CommunityKindness #ActsOfKindness #FreddiesJourney #MakingADifference

We were absolutely blown away by the incredible donation of toiletries we recently received from the wonderful people at PM+M!

Claire and Sinead kindly brought this fabulous delivery to the unit last week, and it was such a pleasure to see them and show them around. Their generosity will make such a difference, every single item helps to make a difference to families at a time when their whole world has collapsed.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone at PM+M for your amazing support, kindness and thoughtfulness, it truly means the world to us and to the families we support.