Smile Group is thrilled to announce confirmation of a three-year funding programme from the National Lottery Community Fund. This vital financial support will enable us to build capacity within our organisation and meet the growing need for community-based perinatal mental health support across Cheshire East. A heartfelt thank you We would like to take the opportunity to thank our funders and to show our immense appreciation for the support from families, stakeholders and friends of Smile who have helped us through a challenging period of time to keep our services running in the interim period ..read more

The current climate As a small but ambitious charity, Smile has a 13 year track record of supporting families across Cheshire East experiencing perinatal mental health challenges. Demand for our blend of services has increased year-on-year due to capacity issues across the health system and high thresholds for specialist perinatal mental health services. In the spirit of honesty, we’d like to acknowledge how challenging the third sector is right now. Budget cuts in statutory provision are being felt viscerally in the grassroots and grant opportunities are more competitive than ever, so while t ..read more

Tech experts at Holmes Chapel-based Coactive ICT are supporting local perinatal mental health charity, Smile Group, with a new business incentive to boost the charity’s fundraising. Directors, Marc Halstead and Nathan Wright, met Smile’s co-founder Ruth Williams through a local BNI business network and were moved by the charity’s purpose to support families across Cheshire East affected by perinatal mental health challenges. Coactive has launched a new business scheme which means that, for any new client signing up for business IT support paying more than £50 per month, they will donate £50 to ..read more

Crewe-based BWB Windows Doors and Home Improvements has shown its support for Smile Group by joining its Raise a Smile programme as a corporate donor.  BWB is a FENSA approved installer specialising in Upvc and aluminium windows and doors working across Cheshire, Staffordshire and surrounding areas. With more than 25 years’ industry experience, the company prides itself on quality workmanship and first class customer service.  The partnership comes just as Smile Group has expanded into Crewe, operating a weekly peer support group drop-in service at the Oak Tree Family Hub, for local ..read more

Smile Group is looking for three new Trustees to join its Board and support the ongoing responsible growth of the charity. Overview Smile Group is a registered charity supporting new and expectant parents with their mental health across Cheshire East. In addition to our direct delivery locally, the charity is part of a national partnership (the Hearts and Minds Partnership), funded by the National Lottery. This partnership brings grassroots perinatal mental health services across the UK together to share learning and provide a coherent voice for the sector. Smile Group was established in 2011 ..read more

North West-based Honest Crust Sourdough Pizza has donated a healthy slice of sales of Margheritas to Cheshire’s perinatal mental health charity, Smile Group, contributing a whopping 12-month total of £2,584. Honest Crust chose Smile Group as its annual charity partner in Spring 2022, moved by the organisation’s work to support families in Cheshire East affected by perinatal mental health challenges. Based in the popular Macclesfield eatery, Picturedrome, Honest Crust has generously donated 25p from the sales of Margheritas to Smile over the course of the year-long partnership. Set up in 2011 b ..read more

Smile supported more parents than ever in the last year with a blend of tailored services and is inviting you to join our Raise a Smile regular giving programme to help us to reach more families. While demand for our services continues to increase, the stark reality is that the rising cost of living and pressure on our small team has a significant impact on our cost-base. We’re incredibly proud of our service but we’re honest too about the reality of growing a charity and how challenging it is to ensure it remains sustainable. Smile is free to parents at the point of access (though donations a ..read more

As a Cheshire-East perinatal mental health charity, Smile Group provides a blend of support for expectant and new parents experiencing emotional challenges. Due to the ongoing demand for our service, we have an opening for a volunteer role at our weekly Macclesfield peer support groups, which run out of Ash Grove Children’s Centre on Fridays, 10-12 noon. Smile offers parents compassionate support in trusted spaces with four weekly peer support groups (Nantwich, Sandbach, Congleton and Macclesfield) as well as 1-1 support, talk therapy and monthly family sessions. Our team includes skilled well ..read more

Social responsibility is not a new term. Most organisations have an understanding of it, and some embrace it wholeheartedly, mostly by choosing to give back to a cause that has emotional resonance or perhaps a personal connection. As a small perinatal mental health charity in Cheshire East, Smile Group’s resources may be limited, but our passion is overflowing. We often assume that businesses on our doorstep are aware of us, and our Ops Director, Ruth, has certainly thrown herself with great momentum into the local business network, developing great relationships and creating partnerships with ..read more

It’s a simple premise, yet easily overlooked. When we founded Smile we saw a gap in perinatal mental health support at a community level. To be honest, nearly 12 years ago the phrase ‘perinatal’ was relatively unknown and talking openly about emotional wellbeing challenges in early parenthood didn’t seem to be comfortable conversations at baby groups. Fast forward 11 and a half years and we’re at a busy family meet-up – one of our monthly ‘Saturday Socials’ at Ruby’s Fund in Congleton, which invites mums, dads, partners, babies, toddlers and siblings to come together to chat, drink a hot brew ..read more