Charity patron’s announcement and special award nomination for children’s charity - Joseph’s Smile

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Charity patron’s announcement and special award nomination for children’s charity - Joseph’s Smile
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Joseph’s Smile, a dedicated UK charity based in South Wales, which supports children and their families fundraising for medical treatment or equipment that is not available on the NHS has released its list of charity patrons and is thrilled to announce a nomination for Courageous Family of the Year award at The Principality Child of Wales Awards in Cardiff on March 24th 23.
Joseph’s Smile patrons are –
Shane Williams MBE – Welsh Rugby legend
Ian Gwyn Hughes – Head of PR for Football Association of Wales
Steven Meo – Actor, best known for Coronation Street, Gavin & Stacey, High Hopes and the Pembrokeshire Murders. Also, Les Miserable on London’s West End.
Craig Russell – Actor, best known for Hollyoaks, Eastenders, Belonging, High Hopes.
Steve Balsamo – Singer/Songwriter, former lead singer of Welsh band The Storys and played lead role in the London production of Jesus Christ Superstar during the mid-1990s
Sian Reese-Williams – Actor, best known for Emmerdale, Hinterland and Line of Duty. Most recently, Sian plays a lead role in the incredible Welsh language movie 'Y Swn'
Iestyn Hopkins – Ospreys Rugby with multiple caps for Wales under 20’s.
Korey Smith – Derby County Football Club, formally Swansea City FC
Rebecca Edwards-Symmons – CEO of Commonwealth Games Wales
Owain Tudur Jones – Former Welsh International Footballer / TV Presenter
Margaret Studt – Cardiff based Businesswoman and restauranteur
Glynog Davies – Welsh TV Producer and Carmarthenshire County Councillor
Duetswith_t – Tik Tok Star
Joseph’s Smile was set up in memory of Joseph Yeandle by his mother and aunt in August 2022. Joseph was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma in 2021 and the family were faced with not only having to deal with the fear and uncertainty of knowing that their son had a rare and aggressive form of cancer, but also with the knowledge that in order to give him the best chances of survival, they had to fundraise 300k to get him to America for potentially lifesaving treatment.
Devastatingly, Joseph passed away before he was able to access the treatment but through the power of community, online, locally and nationally, the campaign raised £200,000 which was later donated to Solving Kids Cancer following Joseph’s loss. In August last year, Katy Yeandle (Joseph’s mother) and Emma Rees (Joseph’s aunt) launched a legacy charity for their beautiful and smiley boy, hence the name – Joseph’s Smile. They are committed to helping other families who have to fund treatment or equipment that’s not currently available on the NHS to relieve some of the burden that comes with a fundraising campaign and to give them precious time back with their families. Time that Joseph’s family never got, but are now determined to give to others in his name.
In setting up the charity, they felt passionately about asking each of the incredible people listed above to join us as charity patrons because each of them played a huge role in supporting Joseph’s family and his fundraising campaign or via support following his heartbreaking loss. As you will see from the bio’s against each patron, they each have a personal connection to Joseph and his family.
Founder and Joseph’s Mum Katy Yeandle said “We cannot express how thrilled and deeply touched we are that each of these wonderful and dedicated people have joined us to build upon Joseph’s legacy as patrons of his charity.
We built special relationships with each of them during Joseph’s campaign and following his loss, so felt passionately about asking each of them to join us and help build this very special charity. They each have a personal connection to our son in many ways, so it means more than we can express to have them all continue to support us. We are a new and small charity, completely led by volunteers, but we have great determination and passion to one day soon be able to support all children in the UK currently fundraising for treatment not available on the NHS. We know that with the army of incredible Joseph’s Smile followers, volunteers and now our wonderful patrons behind us, we will do it!
On the award nomination, Katy says “We are incredibly honoured and humbled to be nominated for the Courageous Family of the Year award at the Principality Child of Wales Awards. The nomination means a great deal to us as a family and whether we win or not, we will be eternally grateful for this very special nomination and experience, especially for our son Liam who has gotten so much out of it and is extremely excited for the evening”.
Blanche Sainsbury, Founder of Child of Wales Awards says "Joseph's Smile makes a huge difference to help families who are desperately fundraising for treatment. The nomination is a truly inspirational story of a very brave family and a beautiful little boy who sadly didn't make it to access a clinical trial in New York. In his name, Joseph's Smile was created and the charity has helped many families. We are so proud at Child of Wales Awards that they were nominated by so many people".
Quotes from Patrons
Shane says "It is an honour to be part of such a wonderful campaign. Thank you for allowing me to be a part in Joseph’s Legacy".
Owain says "I am so proud to be a patron of Joseph’s Smile and have a special relationship with the family after first meeting them while filming ‘Dathlu Dewrder’ a show which recognised Joseph’s unbelievable bravery."
Craig says “I am an incredibly proud patron of Joseph’s Smile and excited to be working with them to help raise awareness of such an important charity”.
Iestyn says “I am delighted to be a patron for Joseph’s Smile. It is an emotional honour for me as he was one of the family.”
Steve Balsamo says "It's an honour to be a part of this beautiful and important charity".
Steve Meo says "I’m extremely honoured to be a patron of “Joseph’s Smile”.
I’ve been lucky enough to know Joseph’s family for most of my life and look forward to helping them in any way I can. What better way to honour Joseph’s memory than helping to ease the pain and suffering of others."
Rebecca says "to see what Katy, Emma and the wider family had to endure during Joseph's final few months was devastating to watch. As a mother I just couldn't imagine having to think about fundraising, treatment options and caring and protecting my child. Joseph's Smile will help support other families so they are able to focus on their children and not have to worry about fundraising to enable further treatments. I will be doing all I can to support Katy, Emma and the charity to help as many families as possible".
Sian says " I am so proud to be a patron of Joseph’s Smile. Joseph’s story is very close to mine and my family’s heart and I'm so happy to support the amazing work being done for other families and children in his name. So many children have been helped in such a short space of time and this is just the start".

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