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How do you package care or deliver love in a moment that words cannot quite hold? This was the question Â鶹´«Ã½ , Vix Fuller, found herself grappling with in 2023, after a close friend received a life-changing diagnosis.

What began as a simple desire to lift her friend’s spirits quickly became an emotional search for the right way to show she cares; a search that would eventually spark the idea behind a gifting service designed to help others do the same, with thoughtfulness and ease.

“I just didn’t know what to send,” Vix said.

“Flowers felt too predictable, and everything I found barely reflected how much I cared or what she was going through. In the end, I teamed with another friend to gather all her favourite things and packed them into a box to send to her. She loved the gift and it made her smile. It meant a lot to her, and we were really glad to have been able to curate something meaningful for her.”

Rather than let the experience pass, Vix chose to act on it. Drawing on her training as a midwife at the Â鶹´«Ã½, where empathy, compassion and personalised care are central, she co-founded , a gifting service designed to remove the stress and uncertainty associated with deciding how best to show support for others.

Based in Eastbourne, Send a Smile specialises in curating thoughtful wellbeing gift boxes, tailored to life’s more sensitive moments, from illness and recovery to grief and emotional support.

Vix, who is also a mentor for current Midwifery students at the Â鶹´«Ã½, said: “I have seen the impact that meaningful gifts can have on those who receive them. People want to be there for each other, but they don’t always know how. I wanted to make it easier to send something that genuinely means something, without overthinking it. While it started as helping to send love in difficult times, we have grown over the period and now help those who need gifts for celebrations as well.

“My training as a midwife taught me how important it is to meet people where they are, especially during vulnerable moments. That’s exactly what I’m trying to do with Send a Smile.”

Thelma Lackey, Course leader for at the Â鶹´«Ã½, said: “Vix’s journey is a powerful example of how the values at the heart of midwifery; compassion, empathy and truly understanding people’s needs, can extend far beyond clinical practice.

"At Brighton, we encourage our students to lead with humanity, and it’s inspiring to see that ethos translated into something that is helping so many people feel supported during life’s most difficult moments.”

In 2025, the business became a Small Business Sunday Winner, providing exclusive access to networking communities and business support platforms like the Â鶹´«Ã½ Help to Grow management programme which provides small and medium-sized businesses with strategies to unlock their full potential.

Dr Adam Jones, Principal Lecturer and Director of the Â鶹´«Ã½ Help to Grow business leadership programme, said: “Vix’s journey as both a Â鶹´«Ã½ graduate and a business owner highlights the real impact of investing in our local business community.

"Through the Help to Grow Management programme, we’re proud to support founders like Vix to build sustainable, future-focused businesses. Her story shows how that support can translate into lasting value for both individuals and the wider community.”

Since launching, Send a Smile has helped to send thousands of gifts across the UK, assisting customers in curating meaningful alternatives to generic gifting, and helping turn moments of uncertainty into opportunities for connection.

Staff related to this story

Programme Director Help to Grow Mgmt – School of Business and Law

Business and Economic Change Research Excellence Group, Tourism, Inclusion, Events and Society Research Excellence Group

Senior Lecturer – School of Education, Sport and Health