The Big Smile Tea Party is Back!

March 2022: Smile Train UK is excited to announce that one of their flagship fundraising events, the Big Smile Tea Party, will be launching once again this April.

Launching on Monday 11 April, the Big Smile Tea Party is dedicated to bringing people together over a cuppa and a cake to raise money for cleft-affected children around the world.

Whether you choose to ‘par-tea’ at home, schedule a tea break with colleagues over Zoom, or FaceTime relatives from afar for an afternoon tea, Smile Train UK is encouraging everybody in April to boil the kettle, enjoy a slice of their favourite cake, and have a ‘good old natter’ with the people they love whilst donating their spare change to Smile Train.

A cleft is the most common facial difference globally, affecting around 1 in 700 babies each year. In the UK, cleft surgery is carried out within the first 12 months of a baby’s life by the National Health Service (NHS). However, hundreds of thousands of children living in resource-poor communities worldwide do not have access to the lifesaving cleft treatment they so desperately need.

Smile Train uses a unique and sustainable model of empowering local medical professionals with the tools they need to provide free surgeries and a full programme of comprehensive cleft care. Over the last 20 years, the charity has supported safe and quality cleft care for 1.5+ million children and will continue to do so until every cleft-affected individual has access to the care they deserve.

For this year’s fundraiser, the Big Smile Tea Party will be raising awareness for Smile Train’s nutritional programmes which provide vital support to babies and their families. Babies with clefts are uniquely vulnerable to malnutrition, even when food supply is abundant. In 2021, Smile Train announced its five-year commitment to scaling investment in global nutrition to support mothers and babies deeply affected by clefts.

Ian Vallance, Director of Smile Train UK, says: “We’re delighted to announce that our favourite family fundraiser, the Big Smile Tea Party, is returning for Easter 2022.

Not only is it a great activity for friends and families to enjoy over the Easter period, but it’s an opportunity to raise awareness for our nutrition programmes as part of our comprehensive cleft care commitment. It is such an important issue for cleft affected babies and mothers, so we wanted to use the Big Smile Tea Party as a way to spark conversation and highlight this important area.”

The Big Smile Tea Party campaign is launching on Monday 11 April, but you can hold one at any time. Order your complimentary fundraising pack at smiletrain.org.uk/bigsmileteaparty