December 2023
Hello and welcome to the last monthly newsletter of this year. We hope you have enjoyed reading our newsletters and learning more about how your support enables us to do what we do. We hope you have had the best month possible and have been able to enjoy the festive period as best as you can.
Smiles
10 Smiles were sent to both ME sufferers and carers of all ages this month. All chosen and personalised to fit each person’s likes and interests. Some of the items sent this month included Eeyore, seal, bunny and Gengar cuddly toys, Winnie-the-Pooh postcards, Whittard world coffee gift set, notebooks, inspirational quote pens, acrylic paints, bubble bath, salts and bombs, face masks, hand cream, candle, eye masks, Simba water bottle, keyring, sweets, chocolates and a plant. 
“Can I please send a massive thank you to you all for Steve’s smile. Needless to say the chocs have already been scoffed and the percolator is being well used. I managed to keep it secret as well. It made Steve’s day. Thank you again.
Much love and Merry Christmas to you all.
Helen. X”
“Thank you so much for my daughter’s gifts. You made her smile so much! It was so lovely to see her happy and the gifts were perfect xx”
2023 Smiles
204 Smiles were sent to both ME sufferers and their carers throughout 2023. These included our regular monthly Smiles, Smiles in memory of Merryn Crofts as part of our Merryn’s Smile Day and our Carers Week Smiles.
Each Smile we send is special to us as we personally customise each one. We do our best to thoughtfully choose presents for the recipients, ensuring that they are appropriate from the information we receive from the nominator. They are then wrapped and posted with love hoping to brighten a day and remind people they are thought of.
Thank you to all the Smile recipients this year who have kindly sent messages or pictures after receiving your Smiles and given us permission to share them. Not only does it touch us to hear or see your Smiles have reached you safely and made you smile but we also love being able to share them to show people supporting where their money goes. There is never any pressure from us to share about your Smile, we completely understand the people who prefer to be private and we are just as grateful for the private messages. Please note if you do have a private social media account, even if we are tagged, we are unable to see your post due to your privacy settings. Please send it to us directly instead if you wish to share with us, thank you. 
Smile of the year
What’s made you smile this year?
Thank you’s
A big thank you to everyone who has donated, fundraised, supported on social media and nominated someone affected by ME for a Smile. Your support this year means more than words can say. We would not be able to do what we do without the kindness and generosity you show us. Thank you so very much.
Thank you to Naomi who has completed her 2023 Cards for ME project. Throughout the year she made and sold some beautiful and creative cards raising a total of £97 split between Smile For ME and Action for ME. Thank you Naomi for kindly fundraising for us all year.
A special thank you to Sally and Shirley who together recently raised an incredible £863, with an extra 25% to come with Gift Aid, starting with the raffle of the ME awareness mosaic art to then turning the design into pin badges. We can’t thank you both enough for making a difference to us.
