Make A Smile’s largely character-driven volunteering with disabled, disadvantaged, and ill children has made waves across the UK, and the Birmingham chapter, newly guild-affiliated, is no different. With Disney princesses, jedis, fairies and superheroes, (as well as the opportunity to not dress up if you don’t feel comfortable) Make A Smile Birmingham is a primarily student-led charity that offers its voluntary services to any child in need. We believe every child should have the opportunity to experience a childhood, regardless of the challenges they may face.

Committee

President: Keren Mason

Vice-President: Zenna Hussain

Secretary: Nya Marshall- Watkins

Events Officer: Abi Hateley

Social Media Officer: Hritika Agarwal

Recruitment Officer: Freya Godfrey

Wardrobe Officer: Summer Stringer

Who we are

Zenna Hussain – Make A Smile Vice-President 2023-2024

Hey, I’m Zenna, and in addition to being the Food and Drink editor for Redbrick, I’m also the vice president of Make A Smile and the former recruitment officer. I’ve been volunteering with the organisation for three years now, and this is my second year serving on the committee. Make A Smile is a nation-wide Charity that seeks to bring joy to disadvantaged, disabled or ill children. We go anywhere disadvantaged children would be happy to see us, such as hospitals, hospices, special needs schools, and fairs.

We have only recently become affiliated with a guild, and due to COVID we had to scale back our visits to the children, but now we are stronger than ever and eager to get to work on some truly incredible events!

To help you become the best volunteer you can be, we’ve organised a number of events and training sessions, as well as some really lovely fundraisers and collaborations with some of the other amazing societies on campus. Make A Smile is a great society to slot along the ones you have, because you can do as many or as little events as you want.

We’ve had a jam-packed last month, with a photo shoot, multiple events with various charities, and a joint coffee and cake sale with Action Against Homelessness. Be sure to follow our Instagram and stay tuned for details on some upcoming events we’ve planned for the month of November! We love our charity and can’t wait for you guys to get involved!

Keren Mason- Make A Smile President 2023-2024.

In 2016, Cardiff University launched Make a Smile as a Welsh volunteer initiative. Students primarily visited paediatric wards dressed as Disney princesses and Superheroes to bring magic to the children who spent so much of their time there. Since then, we have expanded our reach outside of Cardiff, to 19 locations, 17 in the UK and 2 internationally.

We’ve been established in Birmingham for 3 years now, with this year already being our most successful year yet. We’re looking forward to visiting more children this year than ever before and spreading the magic everywhere we can!

Recent and Upcoming Events

11th November – Bake Sale at the Guild

13th November – Meditation and Mindfulness social with Intervol

18th November – Paint and Sip at Joe’s with NurseSo

19th November – Pottery Painting social at the Creative Coffee Hub with Birmingham Uni Boob Team

25th and 26th November – National Conference and Ball

How to Get Involved

Regular events are held with a wide range of different charities and places, and we are always on the lookout for more! Check out our Instagram at @makeasmilebirmingham for up-to-date information on our socials, fundraisers and upcoming events. In order to become a volunteer with Make A Smile, you must first register on our Make A Smile Website and then attend one of our introductory training sessions.

Dressing up is not required (though always fun), and we hold socials and fundraisers in addition to the volunteering, such as bake sales, possibly carolling, photoshoots, and other enjoyable socials.

Check out the link below to read last month’s Society Spotlight:

Society Spotlight: Uni Boob Team