Category: News

Last night was our family charity evening, held at Great Harwood Golf Club, and what a resounding success the evening proved to be.  Tickets sold out a few weeks prior to the event and there was standing room only. The room looked great, with pink and blue balloons on the tables and fairy lights adding to the exciting atmosphere.  Everyone came with the intention of having a good time, and I don’t think they were disappointed!  The evening was hosted by the Amazing Barrington Powell, who thrilled everyone with his magic tricks – how on earth did he get that £10 note into the kiwi fruit?!  There was a crazy balloon race and a mad dancing competition which was won by a crazy parent from ward 84 dressed as Woody!  There was a bottle tomobola which sold out within the first hour, and some great raffle prizes donated by some very generous businesses and friends.  We also had a beautiful rainbow bear, the winner of the bear was the person who guessed the correct name, which was Belinda, named after Milly’s Tooth Fairy.  Entertainment was also provided by Tom Muldoon, whose talent is simply amazing, he performed 4 songs which were breath taking, and his version of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ was outstanding and an amazing tribute to Milly.  There was lots of dancing, laughter and fun had by everyone, and a fantastic amount of money was also raised.  In total £2362.72 was raised, and this will be matched by £1000 courtesy of Barclays Bank, making a final total of £3362.72. Huge thank you to everyone who attended, donated money and simply enjoyed their evening with us.

The Garden Gate Florist in Great Harwood is selling these amazing Doodlebugs, made by Fiona Ashraf.   Fiona has been hand painting these unique ‘garden pals’ for a while for family and friends.  She has always had an interest in art and craft activities, and now her three little boys are a little older Fiona now has time to get back to her hobby.

Money from the sale of these great doodlebugs is being donated to Milly’s Smiles, and they are currently flying off the shelves.  We absolutely adore them.

Retired Police Sergeant Jeanette Hickey was the winner of this prestigious award in 2016.  The award is presented annually by the GHR trust to an officer who has gone above and beyond in service to the community.  Jeanette got to choose a charity to receive a donation of £400, and she chose Milly’s Smiles, due to it being a charity close to the heart of a very good friend of Jeanette’s, Andrew Boardman.  Andrew a keen runner with Blackburn Road Runners was a strong supporter of Milly’s Smiles and sadly passed away in July last year.  Congratulations Jeanette on this amazing achievement, and thank you for choosing Milly’s Smiles.

Today we visited St Augustine’s RC High School, to speak to year 8, which is Milly’s year group.  We had been invited to talk about Milly’s charity and we also took the opportunity to show them the Welcome Bag that all new families receive when admitted onto the ward.  It was quite daunting talking to over 200 teenagers for several reasons, we were aware that all Milly’s friends were sitting in the audience and we were also highly aware that if things had been different Milly herself would have been sitting there too.  However, we were extremely well received by the staff and pupils, and the presentation seemed to go very well.  The pupils are all very keen to help support the charity, the school itself has been extremely supportive over the last 12 months, holding many fundraising activities over the school year.  The year 8 pupils are holding a toothpaste drive, where they will donate toothbrushes and toothpaste to go into our welcome bags.  This is their second toothpaste drive, the first one was held last year, and the amount of toothbrushes and toothpaste donated has kept us going until now – so thank you Year 8 for all your support, we think you are totally fabulous.

Whilst we were at the school we couldn’t waste the opportunity to get a photograph with all Milly’s school friends from her junior school, and we even got Milly on the picture too, which we absolutely love.

Milly’s last Christmas was spent on Ward 84.  By the early hours of Christmas Eve she had completed her 2nd cycle of chemotherapy, which had made her feel really unwell.  Slowly the vomiting stopped and she started to feel slightly better, and was able to look forward to Christmas. We had been visited by many celebrities who came and chatted with Milly, she particularly loved Joe Hart – she thought he smelt fantastic, and she also loved Anthony Cotton too who spent quite a while chatting to her and even coming back to have a photo with Milly’s sister too.  Just after midnight Father Christmas arrived on his mobility scooter!  Milly loved this, he came and brought a Christmas stocking for every child on the ward, it was fantastic to see Milly so happy after her having been so unwell.  Christmas morning was great with all the staff who made a fantastic effort to give all the children a great Christmas day – and they succeeded.

We wanted to do something to let the families know that we understand how tough it is in hospital at any time, but in particular at Christmas time and also wanted to let the staff know that they truly make a difference to our children every day.  We delivered 5 hampers last Friday to Ward 84 and to the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit.  There was a hamper for the families and a hamper for all the staff too, we also included a chocolate hamper which had been donated to us in the form of 20 selection boxes.  The hampers were packed full of Christmas goodies and as an extra treat we have included some rainbow meringue kisses, which look very tempting!  The hampers will be put out on Christmas Eve for everyone to enjoy.

Today, over 180 people turned up to celebrate Milly’s 13th Birthday and our second annual ‘Walk 5 Miles for Milly’s Smiles’ walk.  People travelled from near and far and we were also lucky to have several families join us from Ward 84.  The weather was kind to us, we had sunshine, a little bit of rain, and that meant we also got a rainbow!  After the walk everyone met back at The Plough, where we had pies generously donated by Hollands Pies, cheese & onion pie which was kindly made by Colleen Magill and hot potatoe pie made by Linda.  We also had some amazing cupcakes made by some very generous bakers and they proved a great success.  It was a great day, everyone was in good spirits and all there to help celebrate Milly’s birthday and to raise money for Milly’s charity.  We are now in the process of collecting in the money and as soon as we have the final total we will let you know.

Today our Bone Marrow Journals were delivered onto the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit,at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, where they were well received by the nurses.  The journals are to help children and their parents chart the long journey from the start of transplant to discharge and to day case visits.  There is the opportunity for both the children and parents to complete the book, also included are sections for the doctors and nurses to write in there too.  And just because we can we included one of our signature rainbow elephants too!

On Thursday a fundraising event was held by Kathryn Lloyd.  Kathryn held a coffee morning, with stalls selling cakes and toys, there was also a raffle and an entertainer who kept the children thoroughly entertained.  Kathryn was raising money for Milly’s Smiles and for Bliss – a charity for premature and sick babies.  Kathryn’s hard work certainly paid off and she has raised £293.00.  Massive thank you for all your hard work and to everyone who came and supported your event.  Without people like yourself we would be unable to do what we do, so we thank you so very much.

Rachel Robinson and a team of friends took on the X Runner Wild Run on Saturday.  This was a 10K run with over 60 obstacles to challenge them!  Rachel’s nephew Dexter, is currently being treated on Ward 84 for Acute Lymphatic Leukaemia.  Dexter is just 4 years old, and as Rachel’s says ‘When we were hit with the sad news, none of us had any idea of what lay ahead’.  After a year on treatment Dexter is doing really well, he is able to attend school when he is well and is soldiering on though his 3 year treatment plan.  Dexter’s family have seen our Welcome Bags on Ward 84, they know first hand, from speaking to the families, how much of a difference they make to families on their first days on the ward.  The total raised by Rachel and friends is £1622.50 – Well Done Guys!

A local social cycling group held their first 100 mile cycle ride last year, raising money for charity.  This year we are honoured that they chose Milly’s Smiles as their main charity.  The cyclists complete a 100 mile bike ride, whilst juggling time in the saddle and managing nutrition and hydration on the day.  They have raised an amazing amount of £1335.00 for Milly’s Smiles, guys you are all amazing, thank you so much.