Lucy Jackson, CEO of Spread a Smile details a week in her life
______________________________________________________________________

There are many things I love about my job at Spread a Smile. One is that no week is ever the same, and this week was no exception.

As well as taking teams of entertainers (we have magicians, fairies, singers and therapy dogs) into 34 NHS hospitals to see children who are critically ill, we also organise regular events for families outside of the hospital to offer some much needed respite from the ordeal of what they're going through. We know siblings can be deeply affected by a serious illness in the family, which is why they're included in as many of our initiatives as possible and why we organise our family events during the school holidays. During the recent half term week, we welcomed over 240 people to four events. When it comes to our family events, we want to make sure every single child feels like the most important person in the room.

Monday

On Monday 70 people joined us at ZSL London Zoo. For some families, this was their first time bringing their children to the Zoo. I met one couple and their six month old son who'd left hospital for the first time since he’d been born to join our event.

As well as being able to spend time seeing the animals, we had a team of our magicians, fairies and face-painters on hand to deliver the full Spread a Smile experience. Volunteers from Downing, our corporate partner and event sponsor, joined us to run art and craft activities and meet and greet our guests and generally help the event run smoothly. We need lots of help at our events to ensure everyone receives the warm welcome and VIP treatment Spread a Smile has become known for.

The Zoo is an expensive day out for any family, particularly so for the families we support, when a parent may have had to give up work to care for a seriously ill child, so events like these are so important to give families a special day out together without having to worry about the cost.

Tuesday

I had a few meetings with supporters on Tuesday morning before heading to the Everyman Cinema in King's Cross. We've been lucky enough to host events at the cinema for a couple of years now and we’re so grateful to the team at Everyman. 72 people joined us for a screening of Inside Out 2. Before the film, we served pizza and made sure everyone had plenty of popcorn and snacks to get them through the film.

For me, the highlight of this event was seeing the children gathered around the front of the cinema to watch a magic show with our magician, Krisgar, giggling their heads off and forgetting for a moment what they were going through. I chatted to some parents whilst I was there and they all told me the same thing: what a joy it was to feel "normal", to be around others in a similar situation and how wonderful it was to see their children genuinely happy and distracted from the daily reality of hospital treatment and medical procedures.

Wednesday

Wednesday was a day off from family events and a chance to catch up with colleagues and emails.

Thursday

We hosted 50 people at a Halloween-themed art event at the Brunswick Art Gallery. As well as decorating and drawing pumpkins, our amazing team were on hand doing magic, making personalised bags, face-painting and DJ-ing at the mini disco. Guests enjoyed delicious food donated by local restaurants, including our partner, Riding House Cafe in Bloomsbury.
As a working mum, I can’t be around all the time for my children, so it’s really important to me that my three kids understand what I’m doing and why so I was especially happy that my 13 year old daughter joined the event on Thursday.

Friday

On Friday, 51 people joined us for a ‘Creative Hospital Play Day’ at LEGO London Hub. This event was designed for the kids to be in control, when so often in hospital they have no control over what’s happening to them. Being able to play through medical experiences can empower them and help them understand what they’re going through.

We made ‘blood soup’ with beads, pom poms, sequins and glue, to help children learn about the different components of blood and how it works in your body. Many of the children we support are scared of their regular blood tests so this activity was designed to help remove some of that fear.

They made artworks using syringes to apply the paint; an activity we knew would reduce their fear of injections and make their next hospital experience more positive.
The siblings benefitted the most from the teddy bear hospital. Often siblings can feel excluded from what’s happening to their brother or sister. Medical staff will spend time explaining to the patient what’s happening to them throughout their various medical treatments, where a sibling is left with endless questions, so this was an opportunity to empower and educate siblings.

I’m so incredibly proud of the team at Spread a Smile, who continue to be innovative and creative in the events we organise for families and in all the work we do. In spite of the charity’s growth (in the last year our income rose by 79% and the number of children we visited in hospital increased by 35%), this week of outstanding events demonstrates to me that the team have remained true to our values of always bringing a positive energy and always going above and beyond. It’s so important to me that we retain our founding values as the charity continues to grow, so that we can fulfil our mission to support seriously ill children across the country.

---