Award winning children’s book Author Hannah Gold, alongside children’s charity, Spread a Smile, who provide in-hospital entertainment for critically ill children, think Magicians, Fairies, Therapy Dogs and more, is visiting two of Spread a Smile hospitals, The Evelina and King’s College Hospital, to celebrate World Book Day (5th March), and reading her books in the children’s wards.
Hannah is Author of The Last Bear, the winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize & the Blue Peter Book Awards 2022, her 2nd book, The Lost Whale, won the Edward Stanford Children’s Travel Book of the Year in 2023 and 3rd book, Finding Bear, a sequel to The Last Bear, was an instant bestseller on release.
Her visits celebrate the 19 Spread a Smile Libraries in 15 NHS Hospitals in the UK. Across the libraries, over 2,000 books have been donated and the collection curated by Spread a Smile alongside their Entertainer Posey Furniss, also a professional storyteller who has a Masters in Children’s Literature from Roehampton University.
Spread a Smile brings joy and laughter to seriously ill children in NHS hospitals and hospices across the country.
Through in-person and virtual visits and events, Spread a Smile’s entertainers – from magicians to musicians, artists, fairies and therapy dogs – enhance wellbeing and help young patients and their families cope with the pain and anxiety of serious illness and hospitalisation.
Since our founding in 2013, we have built a reputation for developing bespoke relationships with each family and each health setting, so that we can offer the most impactful support.
In 2025-26, Spread a Smile will deliver over 18,411 in-person bedside visits and over 2,860 virtual visits, in partnership with 39 NHS hospitals and six hospice partners.
