I hope you caught us on ITV This Morning on Christmas Day, reuniting families is one of my favourite things we do, creating the ultimate surprise and lifetime memory for military children. 

I know from personal experience homecomings can bring such a mix of emotions; you are exhausted, excited but want it to be special….at Christmas we like to sprinkle some Christmas Smiles and sometimes help reunite families. ITV This Morning helped us do just that this year with a Royal Navy family.

Waiting with apprehensive returning parents just before we reunite them with their family is usually my job and I love the element of surprise! This year we were hiding behind a grotto listening for the prompt to open the door.

This year we filmed on a chilly day at Blenheim Palace with a gorgeous family and I truly hope we have given them a memory they will never forget. I hope they and you loved watching it, there wasn’t a dry eye when we were filming. 

Christmas Smiles is a project we run in the lead up to Christmas , it makes such a difference to so many. An incredibly busy time for us as a team, we all put so much love, time and energy into making it happen and this year was no different. We created, packed and distributed 2500 Christmas boxes, ran an online Elf workshop and online pantomime, had five cinema screenings of Paddington in Peru at different locations, sent out tickets to four pantomimes across the country, ran giveaways and finally held a storytelling event with Royal Hospital Chelsea. 

I love every minute of Christmas Smiles, it truly is the epitome of why I founded this charity; to give those having a different Christmas to most a hug. To sprinkle that sparkle you might not be able to find yourself. 

My husband deployed over Christmas a number of times, I dealt with it badly on occasions and sometimes I was better but I know it felt hard. I so hope if you have been on the receiving end of Christmas Smiles this year it felt like a supportive hug from me to you. 

2024 as a whole has been a busy year for Little Troopers, we’ve met lots of you at events and residentials and created some wonderful partnerships that will go on into 2025. I have really enjoyed this year and the growth of our little charity reaching as many of you as possible who need us. 

On a personal note this has been our first full year with my husband no longer serving in the British Army, Madison our daughter left home in September to go and live near the hospital where she now works as an A&E nurse and we have taken time to adjust to not have impending change lingering over us which has taken some time! We’re settled into our new normal, its taken some time after 24 years connected to the military.

I wish you all so much love this Christmas whatever your circumstance, I hope to see you in 2025 as we have so much already in the Little Troopers diary!

Lots of love

Louise xx