January 2019
Happy New Year! Welcome to the start of another year of monthly updates. We hope you enjoy following along and seeing first hand how your donations are used as well as how your support is so appreciated and makes Smile For ME what it is.
Smiles
We sent 12 Smiles to ME sufferers and carers this month. Items included flowers, make up, jewellery, colouring books, cinema vouchers, book vouchers, pamper products, socks, candles and chocolates. We tried out a new more ME friendly way of wrapping with a bow that can easily be undone instead of curling the ribbon which can be a bit difficult to undo especially when you are exhausted and in pain. Which way do you prefer?
Thank you to those who sent us lovely messages after receiving your smile present, your kind words are much appreciated.
Smile of the month
As always we love hearing from you so we asked on social media what’s made you smile recently and here are some of the responses. By sharing some of your smiles we hope it can help others to find a smile too. 
My personal smile of the month was getting to see some friends. Leave a comment below letting us know what’s made you smile.
Share a story
Share a story is a new segment where we share a story from an ME sufferer or carer about an experience of living with ME to remind others they are not alone. If you love to write and would like to be featured in an upcoming month please email us at smileformecharity@gmail.com. This month’s piece is called ‘It doesn’t have to be a bad day, it can just be a bad moment’ written by Evie who has a brilliant blog Mindfully Evie where she shares posts about happiness and positivity.
It doesn’t have to be a bad day, it can just be a bad moment
Realistically, no day is 100% good or 100% bad, instead it is a blend of both good and bad moments.
Some days the good outweigh the bad, and others the bad outweigh the good.
But that doesn’t have to make it a good or bad day, it just makes the day a combination of both good and bad moments.
The reason why it’s important to learn the difference is because life is experienced in moments, not days.
If you say the day is bad, you have to wait a whole 24 hours for the next chance at having a good day.
But if you say it is a bad moment, then you have the opportunity right there and then to make the next moment a good one.
Because it doesn’t have to be a bad day, it can just be a bad moment ?
Fundraising
We have heard of some exciting fundraisers happening later on in the year which we will share closer to the time but for now we want to say a thank you as we couldn’t do what we do without your support. Thank you to those who are planning on fundraising for us.
If you do want to plan a fundraising event we are registered on MyDonate where you can set up a fundraising page making it easy for online donations. MyDonate have recently announced they are closing down on the 30th June. If you have a fundraiser planned before then don’t worry it wont affect you or us up until the end of June. We are currently looking into registering with a different online donation service which we will let you know about soon.
A big thank you to Lucie, her family and friends who are continuing the In her name fundraising. Last year was a huge success which we loved following and we can’t wait to see what adventures you get up to next. You can donate to In her name Lucie’s fundraising page HERE and keep update to date on her facebook page HERE. 
Thank you’s
A special thank you to those who donated to us this month. We are really grateful for your generous donations of money as well as unwanted gifts we have received. It’s thanks to you and your kindness we can continue sending smile presents to deserving ME sufferers and carers. Thank you Mike, Terry, Emily, Tracy, Nathan, Jacqui, Sally, AnnMarie, Steve, and Pauline, your support means a lot.