To celebrate their first birthday, Form Barbers in Great Harwood decided they wanted to give back to their local community.
Staff decided to hold a raffle in aid of Milly’s Smiles to raise some money and also highlight the work that we do.
The team provided complementary food and drinks, along with a great DJ for the afternoon, which was very well attended. In total they raised an amazing amount of £792 !
A huge thank you to the amazing team at Form, they are genuinely kind and generous people, who have helped to make a difference to children newly diagnosed with a cancer related illness.
We wish them continued success with their amazing business.
On the 7th of May, LFP Civil and Environmental Engineering held a charity day at Victory park, the home of Chorley FC.
The day included 3 very competitive football matches with teams from LFP, Peel Sports Turf, Peel Pumps and a rest of the world team – consisting of players from CLP, Wardell Armstrong, Hilton Grand Vacations and Fox Brothers. Peel Pumps edged it in the final to beat LFP to be the first holders of the ‘Graham Eckersley Trophy’.
Alongside the football there were several activities such as a raffle, an auction, inflatables, cake sales, donut sales and much more.
The day was very successful and helped raise just over £9,000 for several charities; Milly’s Smiles was fortunate to be one of the chosen charities, and we received an amazing amount of £1,000!
A massive thank you to Matt who organised the whole event, choosing Milly’s Smiles after his daughter Camille received one of our Milly Bags earlier this year.
We appreciate the support so much, it will allow us to continue supporting children and families newly diagnosed with a cancer related illness.
Our fabulous delivery team Graeme and John had a good trip over to Leeds Children’s Hospital this week where they safely handed over 20 Milly Bags to Ward L31, 32 and 33.
Thankfully the sun shone for their journey over the Pennines and they were as always, greeted with smiles from the lovely ward team.
It is always an honour to be able to support families at the point of diagnosis and subsequent admission into the wards and we never take this privilege for granted.
On arriving back in Lancashire we received this beautiful smiley photo of a young man currently being treated on L31, his mum told me “Me and my son are in here at the moment he’s on the cancer ward and we couldn’t be more thankful for one of your bags a few weeks ago . It helped us and he loves the blanket and the hat ! Thank you !!!”
Thank you to everyone who continues to support us tirelessly and to all our volunteers you are simply awesome!
This months meet up was slightly depleted due to holidays and sickness, however it was another lovely afternoon, spent with people who are quickly becoming friends with a shared bond.
We spent the time chatting and painting our fairy houses which proved to be very relaxing, we could hear the rain beating down, yet we were warm and comfortable in our meeting room.
Loulou’s Meringues kindly donated a selection of cake treats for us all which were delicious, they were very quickly polished off during the session!
These monthly meets give families the chance to spend time with people who understand and the benefits in attending are significant and include:
Realising you are not alone
Being able to express your feelings within a safe and supportive environment. This can be a very therapeutic and healing experience, particularly as you will find others in the group listen non-judgmentally, and agreeing that they too have similar feelings.
Gaining hope, it is very powerful to see others in the group who are further along their road to recovery and who have been able to work towards a happier life, living alongside their grief. Having these role models shows that recovery is attainable and this brings renewed hope for the future.
Increased self-understanding. Families will learn and share effective ways to cope and handle difficult situations. They will gain better understanding about themselves.
Helping others – as families benefit from support they will be able to help new members grow and make progress. They will be able to affect others positively by sharing their story, their challenges and fears.
Affordability – groups are free to attend, there is no financial cost at all.
Our sessions are open to all families who have lost a child, no matter how recent or how long ago. If you are thinking of coming along or would like to know more, please do get in touch, we would love to speak to you.
Back in November 2021, Tesco Great Harwood set up a charity bookshelf, and we were thrilled when they chose Milly’s Smiles as the charity they wanted to support.
Each week Kerry gave us the donations, yesterday the weekly donations took the total amount raised to just over £10,000!
A huge thank to Kerry, Community Champion who works tirelessly to make sure the books are neat and tidy and that there is a regular supply of books for people.
To the generous people of Great Harwood and beyond, thank you a million times over for supporting and donating books and money each week.
On a personal note I used to shop regularly in Tesco with Milly, seeing her beautiful smiling face on our banner when I am at the checkout and knowing the support we are receiving for her charity, really does warm my heart, so much more than I could ever say.
Thank you Tesco, Kerry and everyone supports the book swop, you are helping us to support families and children who have been newly diagnosed with cancer.
If anyone has any unwanted books please consider taking them to Tesco, it really does make a difference.
No one would choose to become part of this world ever, it’s the loneliest place you could wish to find yourself.
Since losing Milly, I have met some of the kindest most generous people….
People who have cried alongside me, people who have held my hand and said ‘I’ve got you’ and people who have said nothing but have always been there for me.
Please, always talk about the children who are no longer here with us, you can give no greater honour than to mention their name….
Death ends a life, not a relationship.. a parent’s love doesn’t end simply because a child leaves this earth….. the relationship is not over as long as a bereaved parent’s heart beats….
We love this picture of Benjamin with his rainbow blanket and a great smile.
His mum got in touch to tell us how much they appreciate their Milly Bag, it is taken to every hospital appointment just in case Benjamin has to be unexpectedly readmitted.
The rainbow blanket and the heat pack are Ben’s favourite items, the heat pack is used often to help with stomach pains.
Sending all our love and strength to Benjamin and family with his ongoing treatment plan.
We had 2 lovely visitors to our unit last week, when Megan and Harris turned up to donate a huge collection of toiletries.
Megan’s daughter Ephie was recently admitted onto Ward 86 at The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital after being diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma.
The family were so impressed with their Milly Bag that Megan wanted to offer some support back to Milly’s Smiles, so she arranged to collect toiletries from family and friends.
It was so lovely to meet them both and the toiletries have arrived at the perfect time, as we are getting ready to arrange our next round of deliveries.
Thank you Megan and everyone who donated, this means so much to us.
We send our love and strength to Ephie who continues to do well with her ongoing treatment.
We love hearing about unusual challenges that people take on to support Milly’s Smiles. One such challenge is The Race To The Stones – this is a 100km (87 mile) race which conquers the oldest path in Britain. The race follows in the footsteps of Romans, Vikings and mythical warriors in their quest to reach the ancient stone circle at Avebury and has become the UK’s favourite ultramarathon.
Ed Newbon took on this challenge and chose Milly’s Smiles to support, after his friends daughter received one of our Milly Bags.
At the start of the race Ed was all smiles however this was before the arrival of torrential rain, thunder and lightning, mud, showers, cold, wind and then sunburn all on the same day! Unfortunately Ed found himself in the medical tent at the 72km point, however it didn’t take long before he was back up and running. The last 4 hours of his run was in pitch darkness until Ed finally arrived at the Stones at 2.30am after running for a total of 19 and a half hours – what an achievement!
It was too dark at that time to actually see the stones so Ed wend back the next day to see them in the daylight.
To have someone undertake a challenge such as this for us is just so humbling, we never underestimate the amount of hard work, dedication and commitment it takes just to get to the start line. This is one incredible achievement, and we are in awe of Ed.
Thank you so much and thank you for raising such a wonderful amount of money for Milly’s Smiles too. Ed has raised an incredible £566 which will make a massive difference to us, and allow us to continue to support families and children facing a new diagnosis of cancer.
