GATESHEAD food manufacturer Kavli, makers of Primula Cheese, has squeezed a special set of tubes off its production line to spread a smile to help sick children.
The special edition “Just Say Cheese” tubes are hitting stores across the country in October, and Primula will donate 20% of the profits from the sale of each tube sold to Make-A-Wish® UK – the charity that grants magical wishes to enrich the lives of children and young people fighting life-threatening conditions.
Primula is working with Make-A-Wish to raise enough money to make more children with life-threatening conditions smile this year through having their wishes granted – this positivity gives Make-A-Wish children and their families the strength to get through an incredibly difficult time.
One such child that has already had their wish granted by Make-A-Wish is four year old Harrison Turnbull from Durham who is mad about dinosaurs. Harrison was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia when he was just 17 months old. When Make-A-Wish asked what his wish would be, Harrison chose a trip to London to visit the ultimate dinosaur exhibition at the Natural History Museum! He arrived in a limousine, loved the diplodocus skeleton and left with a smile on his face!
Staff on the production line in Team Valley have been working hard to help more children like Harrison have their wishes granted and get the tubes ready for World Smile Day on Friday 2nd October, when TV celebrity Angellica Bell will be launching the Spread a Smile campaign with the release of a new report.
The poll reveals over a quarter (28%) of people from the North East surveyed by Primula Cheese, as part of its Spread a Smile charity campaign, say they rarely laugh or smile, but those that do estimate they smile around 15 times a day.
93% of residents in the region also say their mood improves when they’re smiled at with 86% saying they wish more people would smile more often, according to the research.
“It’s true what they say, when you smile the world smiles back,” said TV presenter and broadcaster Angellica Bell who is famous for her smiles and positive outlook. “A simple smile can make a difference to our day-to-day lives, whether lifting our own mood or making someone we see feel better. Smiling raises your spirits and makes other people happy – it’s a very powerful expression and, like any habit, it gets much easier with practice.
“The survey overall showed 89% of UK adults agree a child smiling puts a smile on their face and that 90% of adults wish people smiled more in public, so our mission is to spread smiles to other people we see, whether it’s friends, family or even a stranger – we want to make the whole country smile.”
Joanne Micklewright is Head of Wishgranting at Make-A-Wish: “Laughter really is the best medicine. A simple smile can make someone feel better when they’re unwell and we’re working with Primula to help raise enough money to spread this positivity by granting magical wishes to more children and young people fighting life-threatening conditions.
“Each year we aim to grant 1,000 wishes to help provide relief from medical appointments or hospital treatment and help both the wish child and their family feel more positive. Through smiling with us this World Smile Day we are raising awareness of our charity and our aim to grant even more wishes in the future.”
Tubes are on sale throughout October and November in selected Asda, Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Co-op, Kerry Foods and selected smaller independent stores.
The British public is also being challenged to #spreadasmile on social media by sharing this video http://bit.ly/justsaycheese or signing up to the Spread a Smile World Smile Day Thunderclap https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/31834-spreadasmile
Make-A-Wish grants magical wishes to enrich the lives of children and young people fighting life-threatening conditions. For more details please visit www.make-a-wish.org.uk
For more information on Primula please visit www.primula.co.uk