Spread a Smile brings smiles and laughter to seriously ill children and their families during the most difficult times of their lives.

Its magicians, face-painters, singers and therapy dogs bring moments of joy to hospital bedsides, offering a much-needed distraction to young patients and their families, helping them cope with illness and treatment.

Its services are available free of charge to all children and teenagers up to the age of 18 and, along with hospital visits, the charity runs outings, events and art initiatives to help create positive family moments.

For example, Spread a Smile personalises radiotherapy masks for children and teenagers going through treatment for brain, head and neck cancer at UCLH and The Royal Marsden, with an aim to make the masks less frightening and help children manage their treatment better.

It also creates bespoke window art for hospital wards to celebrate special occasions such as Christmas, Eid and Diwali, as well as artworks painted for individual children to decorate their hospital spaces.

In 2022-23, Spread a Smile will deliver over 10,000 in-person bedside visits and over 2,000 virtual visits in partnership with 27 NHS hospitals.

To help raise the funding it needs, Spread a Smile will be speaking at the B&C Awards 2023 on 21^st September at The Hurlingham Club.

The organisation has set up a dedicated page for those attending the awards to donate in the run up to the big day.

“After hearing the stories about the amazing work they do for thousands of children with acute or chronic conditions every year, we were delighted to partner with Spread a Smile at the 2023 B&C Awards,” said Beth Fisher, managing director at Medianett Publishing.

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“We know how generous the specialist finance industry is when it comes to charitable initiatives, and therefore what better place to raise awareness and money for a brilliant cause than at our event.

“The charity will also be organising for some of its magicians to attend the Awards and provide close-up magic to table holders. Hopefully they can make large donations appear from our kind guests!”

Lucy Jackson, CEO at Spread a Smile, added: “Spread a Smile is delighted to have been chosen as charity partner for the B&C Awards 2023. 

“We’re looking forward to an amazing evening and a great opportunity for us to share our vital work with a wider audience.

“We’re extremely grateful to Medianett Publishing for helping us to spread even more smiles to seriously ill children and young people in hospital.”

Andrew Bloom, owner of Spring Finance — who holds the charity close to his heart and recommended them as this year’s Awards partner — commented: “Spread A Smile is a truly special charity; what could be purer than bringing joy and laughter to a seriously ill child.

“In 2023, their entertainers will visit dozens of hospitals nationwide spreading smiles to thousands of children.

“I am delighted to be part of an industry that supports charities like these.”

To find out more about the B&C Awards 2023, check out our detailed article, which provides all the information you may need about the awards process and more.

Voting opened earlier this month and professionals are encouraged to choose their preferred winners of the 27 awards here.

For all table enquiries, please email Beth Fisher at [email protected].