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Fundraising from Ward 84 mum Rachel raises £1087.60

After her daughter was admitted onto Ward 84, mum Rachel has been fundraising for Milly’s Smiles.
Lorayah was diagnosed with leukaemia in September 2019, and when she received her Milly Bag,  Rachel told us that it ‘made her smile on her darkest day’.
Rachel has been busy organising a raffle with some tremendous prizes and a cake sale which saw British Bake Off being given a run for their money.
We are so very grateful for all this amazing support, it always warms our heart when families want to support us.
The amount that has been raised is wonderful and will make such a huge difference to us, massive thank you to Rachel and everyone who supported her.
We send lots of love to Lorayah and all her family for her ongoing treatment.
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News

Since losing Milly, people have treated me differently…

Since losing Milly people have treated me differently, many have not known what to say to me, people cross over the road to avoid me or they dive down another aisle at the supermarket in an attempt to avoid speaking to me.
I understand this and accept it because knowing what to say is so hard, I know people don’t want to upset me and worry if they mention Milly that will happen.
Grief is something that is not understood or talked about by many people, yet apart from birth, death is the only other thing in life that is totally guaranteed…… death and grief ultimately travel hand in hand.
Milly’s School – St Augustine’s RC High School got it right, from the moment Milly should have attended school as a year 7 pupil in September 2015 they have been supportive and kind, initially with her diagnosis and treatment, and then with her being taken to heaven.
Her form tutor told me that he considered Milly as much a part of his year as everyone else.
The school gave support in so many ways; allowing us to have Milly’s bench there for her friends to gather, acknowledging her anniversary every year giving love and support to her friends and to me as Milly’s mum. They supported her charity raising money and arranging toothbrush collections for us, along with a host of other things.
The school totally got it right and this warms my heart and fills me with love.
Finally as her classmates prepared to leave school and make their way forward in the world Milly was included, her name is on the leavers hoodie, which I wear on her behalf with pride and her picture is included in the leavers book along with her classmates.
Never be afraid to talk to someone about their child, or to include their child, especially at this time of year. Seeing Milly’s name on Christmas cards to me is getting it right, remembering to mention her is important, even if all you say is ‘I don’t know what to say but I am thinking of you’…. as bereaved grieving parents, it’s all we need to hear.
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Be Strong raise £600 for Milly’s Smiles

In November 2020 a  group of wonderful people from Be Strong put themselves completely out of their comfort zone and came together to celebrate their achievements and successes over the last year.  The result was a brilliant calendar with all the proceeds being donated to Milly’s Smiles.
Initially they raised a fantastic amount of £430, however this has since been topped up to £600 by two very generous donations.
A massive thanks goes to everyone who took part, we think are all amazing and very brave!
We have to mention the wonderful Rick and Rachel of Be Strong, they have worked so hard and give their unfaltering support constantly to Milly’s Smiles and for this we thank you so very much.
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Ward 84 receives their first delivery of 2021.

Last week volunteers David and Vicky took our first delivery of 2021 to Ward 84 at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.
We are now approaching our 5th year of supporting new families admitted onto Ward 84 and have provided 587 Milly Bags which values at almost £120,000.00.
Our Milly Bags have evolved over the last 5 years, growing in both size and content. This is due to feedback from both families and nurses on the ward, suggesting additional items that would be beneficial.
The bags are now very well known and recognised throughout the hospital, families tell us that they are able to identify other oncology families, especially when they are in another part of the hospital, and this gives them a great starting point for striking up a conversation with someone they don’t know.
The latest addition to our Milly Bags are the heat-packs, the nurses told our delivery team how well they have been received, they say the children are loving them and find them both comforting and therapeutic when using them to help with pain and aches associated with chemotherapy.
For us one of the most heart-warming things was the renaming of our bags, initially the bags were known as ‘Welcome Bags’ however whenever families talked about our bags they would call them ‘Milly Bags’ – we absolutely love this, and so that is what they are now known as.
We still feel very privileged and humbled to be able to support families during such a difficult time.  We will forever be grateful to everyone for their support in allowing us to continue to make a difference every day.
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Events News

Happy Healthy 2020!

Despite 2020 being a difficult year for fundraising we have been overwhelmed with the amount of support received over the Christmas Period.
We are so grateful for all your kindness and generosity.
Donations have been received from local companies, donations have been made in lieu of people sending Christmas gifts and cards, people have donated anonymously and people have simply put money into our bank account.
Kindness is everywhere despite the difficult times we are all experiencing, and that truly warms my heart.
We apologise if we haven’t contacted anyone directly to pass on our gratitude but often in cases where money is donated via Virgin Money Giving or Just Giving, people can get missed.
Please do know that we are always humbled and thankful for your kindness.
We wish you all a healthy, happy 2021 and thank you for believing in us and continuing to support Milly’s Smiles.
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Events News

Paul takes on the challenge of Pendle Hill – 250 times!

Over the course of 2021 Paul is taking on a personal challenge of climbing to the summit of Pendle Hill 250 times in order to raise much needed funds for us at Milly’s Smiles.
Paul plans to take on the hill up 3 times a week doing at least 2 laps per visit.
He has already got off to a great start even with all the snow and ice we have had recently.
We are so grateful for his support, we have been hit hard over the last year with a reduction in fundraising and there appears to be no respite anytime soon.
Any support means the world to us and allows us to continue making a difference to families every day.  A massive thank you to Paul, we look forward to seeing the updates as he progresses with his challenge.

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Christmas arrives at Ward 84!

Earlier this week are volunteers have been making up Christmas Gift Bags for all the children on Ward 84, each bag contains a beautiful Harrods Christmas penguin and a bag of chocolate treats from LouLou’s Meringues.  They also made up bags of chocolate treats for the wonderful staff on Ward 84, Bone Marrow Transplant Unit and Ward 84 Day Case.
We combined our Christmas delivery with taking over a further 20 Milly Bags.  We are grateful that even during the pandemic our Milly Bags are seen as essential for the families and we have been allowed to continue to support newly diagnosed families throughout this difficult time.
Our fabulous volunteers David and Vicky made to journey over to Manchester, the Christmas Gifts will need to be quarantined for a few days before they can be given out to all the children.
We send all our love and best wishes for Christmas, being in hospital anytime is hard but Christmas is especially difficult and if we can put a smile on children’s faces, even for a little while, it makes us smile too.
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‘I couldn’t believe we had received something so wonderful’

At the start of this year I was contacted by Ward 84 mum Steph whose little boy Eddie was diagnosed with ALL in November 2019. Steph told me that she had hear about our Milly Bag, but not realised how amazing it was until she opened it.
Steph says ‘I was literally in tears at what was inside it, I couldn’t believe we had received something so wonderful at such an awful time’. ‘From the bottom of my heart, thank you for the bag and all the amazing things it contains; I’m sure you already know how valuable they are.’
Since then Steph has been raising money for Milly’s Smiles in various ways, over £200 was raised at her baby shower, and following several head shaves and hair cuts a further £400 was raised, which is brilliant and makes such a difference to us.
Eddie is currently doing amazing and coping well with his treatment which is fabulous news.
Support like this means the world to us, thank you Steph and everyone who has donated, we send all our love to you all.
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News

18 Milly Bags arrive at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital

Milly Bags at Alder Hey

Our delivery team David and Vicky left our unit yesterday with Milly Bags for Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.  They give their time so generously and nothing is too much trouble for them, we feel very blessed to have them on our team.
18 bags were handed over to Julie ready to be given out to newly diagnosed families when they arrive on Ward 3B, which is the children’s oncology ward.
One thing that we like to ensure is that the wards are never without a Milly Bag, the whole purpose of our bags is to ensure that they are given at the point of admission, because in most cases parents have arrived totally unprepared for a long hospital stay.
We are often told that families love our Milly Bags and are so appreciated.  We are very thankful that we can make sa difference at such a difficult time, however we would give anything for them not to be needed.
We are grateful that we are able to continue doing what we do, and as always our thanks go to each and every person who supports us.  You are all amazing.
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8 year old James raises money for Milly’s Smiles

On September 8th of this year, 8 year old James underwent surgery at Leeds Children’s Hospital, to remove a brain tumour after being diagnosed with Medulloblastoma.

Grandma Cath contacted us to thank us for his Milly Bag and to say that James loves his blanket and takes it to St James Hospital everyday when he goes for his radiotherapy.

James and his family have been undertaking some fundraising for us with fantastic results! Already they have raised £1450 and they are still going strong…

As James began to lose his hair from the chemotherapy, he decided he wanted it shaving off, he was not alone, almost all the males in the family joined him in shaving off their hair – or their beards if they had no hair!

Massive well done everyone, especially James, who is now known as Baldi Basics! It was James who wanted to support Milly’s Smiles and for that we thank you James. We also think you are rocking the bald look!