Post Pals runs lots of projects and offers support to families all the time. We thought would put the spotlight on just a couple of things we did each month in 2022.

January

January started with Disney parcels and adapted dresses.

Later in the month is when we always do our giant balloon send out to every single child. This is always one of the most popular projects of the year. The balloons create much joy, but the giant boxes also get played and create even more! Not only do Pals of all ages play with the boxes for days but parents have been known to climb in too!

Isla holding butterfly balloon

February

We sent out a valentines themed party box and held a party over Zoom.

March

In March we managed to grant Evia’s wish to meet James Arthur. This was helped by lots of volunteers coming together online!

April

In April we sent lots of post to Rachel who was in ICU following multiple cardiac arrests. She is pictured here with post from volunteers. We also arranged finger print necklaces for her Mum and sister and a finger print keyring for her Dad. Every night Rachel and her Mum say “I love you to the moon and back” so her Mums necklace is a fingerprint in the shape of a moon and a star.

May

May was finally the glamping event which had been postponed from 2020. Luckily it was held back as we hadn’t met our fundraising target by the original date but we did by 2022! Highlights were families meeting each other- it’s amazing how shy children became so confident for the weekend when surrounded by each other, meeting the Gruffalo and diving into our giant Tsum Tsum pool! A BIG thank you to Allied Mobility for sponsoring multiple tents, we aren’t used to companies sponsoring us like that! Thank you to everyone who fundraised so hard, a snack station spent a few years fundraising to cover multiple tends, donated, or helped in any way. Also thank you for all the Tsum Tsum!

At Glamping we also had a memorial area for the Pals who had passed away. Every memorial Pal had their own star and the purple light stayed on the whole weekend including over night. It could be seen from the whole campsite.

June

In June Lisa and her friend Sand Notes did some amazing sand writing for some TLC families in Hawaii.

July

July saw Nimrit visiting Chessington World of Adventures. She was unwell on the second day and had to go home straight away but she had a nice first day. Its rare Nimrit isn’t in hospital. She stayed in the Gruffalo room and went on a Giraffe Safari!

We also sent out butterfly gardens with caterpillars.

We held an appeal for Pluto themed items for Aria who had a visit planned to Disneyland Paris, her favourite character was Pluto. We hoped for a few things and were blown away by the response!

August

August was a busy month. We brought back “Summer Smiles”, this time families had a budget of £150 and they could choose a treat of some kind to that value. Not all families have had theirs yet (they will) but lots of families did. We love seeing what everyone chooses! Connor chose Harry Potter Lego and Elliot had his dream pizza oven!

The butterflies also hatched, and families released them. Most families say this is their all-time favourite Post Pals project and very special to them.

We had also been in contact with Disneyland Paris to see if a private meet with Pluto was possible for Aria and were thrilled when she was called to City Hall to meet the special dog himself!

September

We sent TLC Disney parcels out to Pals (we love a good Shop Disney sale now Disney Stores have closed so we no longer have a Disney charity partnership through In Kind Direct!).

October

October saw both Florence and Isabellah finishing Chemotherapy so we sent “Yipee no more chemo for me” balloons. Our favourite thing to send!

November

In November we did something we’ve not done before. Switching from our focus of creating smiles to meeting a need. Families are struggling like never before financially. We launched a Winter Warmer appeal with help from Fearne Cotton and were able to supply Oodies or a warm blanket (by request) to every member of the household. Families said this has been a huge help. The winter warmer appeal is still ongoing with fuel bills rising, the more we raise the more we can help families who are struggling.

December

During December we don’t spend as much as we have big projects running like the elf project and it’s the one time of year there tends to be more support in hospitals or from other charities. We do however supply Christmas trees to families in hospitals. Every year we provide a different kind. This year it was a singing and dancing Christmas tree that also recorded what you said and repeated it back in a silly voice. It seemed to mostly do Tiktok songs much to Anoosha’s delight (sadly she passed away a week after this video was taken). Seraphina thought it was hysterically funny that her tree kept repeating everything her doctor was saying!

We did so much more too, take aways or Costa cards for Pals or parents in hospital, birthday cards, online support, TLC parcels, day trips etc, the list goes on but I hope you enjoyed our round up!

Thank you to everyone who supported us and who sent post in 2022! Roll on 2023 when Post Pals turns 20!