Hearts&Minds

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Nicola Sturgeon meets the Clowndoctors

Elderflowers are Runners-up in the National Lottery Awards

Elderflowers are shortlisted for a National Lottery Award!

Independent Evaluation Completed (July 2007)

Further Expansion of the Practitioner Team (May 2007)

Clowndoctors out and about with First Scotrail (April 2007)

Elderflowers are Finalists in the Scottish Health Awards (November 2006)

Clowndoctors Launch in the North (Jan 2006)

More New Clowndoctors Join Team (Winter 2005)

Clowndoctors Fifth Birthday (June 2004)

New Clowndoctors Join Team (May 2004)

Clowndoctors in Conference (May 2004)

Less new news...

Nicola Sturgeon meets the Clowndoctors(January 2008)

Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Well Being made a visit to see the Clowndoctors in actions at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children on Monday 14th January. The Minister joined Dr. Mousse and Dr. Pavlova on their rounds and had an opportunity to meet staff and children at the hospital.

Elderflowers are Runners-Up in the National Lottery Awards (Sept 2007)

Artistic Director Magdalena Schamberger and Elderflower Practitioners Ian Cameron travelled down to London this week to meet with other Lottery Funded Projects in the Final of the National Lottery Awards. The Elderflowers project was selected as a runner-up in the Best Health Project category and a film of our work was shown as part of the awards ceremony.

Many thanks to everyone who voted for us - although we didn't win we have gained very important exposure for our very special programme.

Elderflowers are Shortlisted for a National Lottery Award! (July 2007)

Our ground breaking programme for people with dementia in hospital care has been shortlisted in the Best Health Project Category of the National Lottery Awards. In July 2007 we were selected from hundreds of projects to be one of ten projects competing for the title of Best Health Project.

Following a round of public voting we made it through to the final three projects to be invited down to London to compete in the live final.

Independent Evaluation Completed (July 2007)

We are delighted to announce that an evaluation of our Clowndoctors and Elderflowers programmes has been completed by the independent research and consultancy company Blake Stevenson.

To download an eight page executive summary of the report click: Executive Summary July 2007

To download the full 110 page evaluation click: Evaluation Report July 2007

Further expansion of the practitioner team (May 2007)

Our number of practitioners has now risen to 14,with the addition of Spud Elderflower, Dr Rocket and Dr Mousse (Nick Bone, Martin Danziger and Rachel Colles) who all completed their training in Spring 2007.

Clowndoctors out and about with First Scotrail (April 2007)

We are delighted to announce that First Scotrail has continued its support of the Clowndoctors programmes by providing us with complimentary rail passes on the routes our practitioners use most. This has been an enormous help to Hearts&Minds so a big thank you to everyone at First Scotrail.

Elderflowers are Finalists in Scottish Health Awards (November 2006)

Our Elderflowers were among the finalists in the Older People's Care Category of the Scottish Health Awards. Sweetie-Pie and Honeybunch Elderflower joined Artistic Director Magdalena Schamberger and General Manager Fiona Anderson at the glamourous ceremony at the Corn Exchange in Edinburgh.

Clowndoctors launch in the North (January 2006)

The Clowndoctors programme has grown! In October 2005, new programmes began in the children’s ward at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness followed by the launch of Clowndoctors at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital on 24th January 2006.

More New Clowndoctors Join Team (Winter 2005)

Two new Clowndoctors joined the team in late 2005. Laura Asensio-Plaza and Diane Thornton completed their training and began work as Dr Poco and Dr Wallop, bringing the unique work of the Clowndoctors to even more children in Scotland. They were then joined in May 2006 by Lesley Quilty, who, along with Laura Asensio-Plaza, is based in the north of Scotland. Her character, Dr Cheese was let loose on the children’s wards in September 2006.

Clowndoctors Fifth Birthday (November 2004)
Hearts&Minds celebrated this fifth birthday of the Clowndoctor programme with a week of themed activities and other events. The Clowndoctors programme was launched in 1999 with funding from the Scottish Arts Council National Lottery, and remains the only service of its kind in Scotland.

Andy Kerr MSP and Minister for Health and Community Care commented during his speech at the event:

"I fully endorse the work of Hearts&Minds. I feel that they are a great resource for children, young people and older people all over Scotland. The work that they do greatly improves the quality of life of those who have to stay in hospital for long periods."

New Clowndoctors Join Team (May 2004)
Two new Clowndoctors, Fiona Colliss and Elizabeth van Zwet, have joined the Hearts&Minds’ practitioners team. Fiona and Elizabeth have completed a training schedule including observation, artistic sessions and hospital protocols. They started work as Clowndoctors in September/October 2004, expanding our current team to a total of eight practitioners. All of Hearts&Minds Clowndoctors must combine the necessary formal arts-in-health training and experience in the performing arts with a genuine commitment to using their talents to benefit others.

Clowndoctors in Conference (May 2004)
On 15th May, two Clowndoctors duos presented workshops at two different conferences: Moray Council’s “Changing Lives” conference and the annual Children’s Hospice Association Scotland Volunteer Conference. The Clowndoctors presented examples of activities they use with children in different health care settings and scenarios, such as teenagers, children with sensory impairments, and siblings. At both events, workshops attendees were interested to learn more about the depth of the Clowndoctors’ approach.

Scottish Executive Funding for Clowndoctors (April 2004)
We are delighted that the Scottish Executive Public Health department has awarded Hearts&Minds with a core funding grant towards the running costs of the Clowndoctors programme. The grant, of £7,000 per year for three years, is the first core funding received for Clowndoctors and illustrates the benefits that the programme holds for the health and well being of children in Scotland.

Outreach Visits funded by SBAAT (February 2004)
Children, at five hospitals and hospices across Scotland, will benefit from Flying Clowndoctors outreach visits, thanks to a donation from the Scottish Business Achievement Award Trust. The visits will be made to units which do not receive Clowndoctors visits, offering children the opportunity to meet the Clowndoctors for the first time. The Clowndoctors will make their visits in early summer 2004, following a period of research.

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Hearts&Minds participates in Clowndoctors conference, Belfast (February 2004)
On 9th February 2004, Artscare Northern Ireland hosted "Laughter is the Best Medicine", a conference examining the benefits and ethos of ‘Clowndoctoring’. Hearts&Minds talked about the role of the hospital in the Clowndoctors partnership, alongside presentations from Clowndoctors organisations Le Rire Medecin (France) and the Theodora Children’s Trust (England/Switzerland). Over 150 artists and health professionals attended the conference in Belfast, which also aimed to assess interest in the formation of a Clowndoctors organisation in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

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Clowndoctors Songlines Activities Launched (February 2004)
From the start of February 2004, children who are blind or partially sighted and children with brain injuries have been able to participate in Clowndoctors Songlines - musical and story-telling activities specially developed to more closely meet their needs. For example, we have looked at ways in which to translate visual clown slapstick into ‘sound slapstick’. Hearts&Minds has undertaken a six-month period research, development and training to create the new activities, working in consultation with Music Therapist James Robertson and music educationalist Naheed Cruickshank. The Scottish Arts Council is the main funder of the Clowndoctors Songlines project.

Elderflowers Training at the University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada (November 2003)
Executive Director Magdalena Schamberger has travelled to the University of Windsor, Canada, to give a presentation on the Elderflowers programme, provide Elderflowers training to the Clowndoctors of ‘Fools for Health’ and act as clowning guest teacher for students at the School of Dramatic Art . She undertook the trip on the invitation of Professor Bernie Warren, who in addition to his responsibilities within the School, established Clowndoctors organisation Fools for Health in 2001. University of Windsor is now the first and only University in the world to offer a training for undergraduates on Clowning in hospitals and healthcare as part of their Drama in Education and Community Community course. In addition ‘Fools for Health’ is affiliated with the University.

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Third Year of Elderflowers funding from Lloyds TSB (July 2003)
We are delighted to have received a third consecutive funding award for the Elderflowers programme from the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland. The award of £9,000 will support the programme in its third year, and continues the Foundation’s role as a key partnership funder of the programme for elderly people with dementia in hospital care.

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Presentation to Lothian Primary Care NHS Trust managers (August 2003)
As part of Lothian Primary Care NHS Trust’s ongoing programme of training and development for its senior management, Hearts&Minds delivered a presentation focusing on the charity's Clowndoctors and Elderflowers programmes. Hearts&Minds’ presentation focused on our Elderflowers and Clowndoctors arts-in-health programmes, and the potential benefits of the arts within a health care environment. The Royal Edinburgh Hospital, one of the hospitals managed by the Trust, currently receives the Elderflowers programme on a weekly basis.

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Flying Clowndoctors England pilot complete (August 2003)
Hearts&Minds has now completed a pilot outreach project, Flying Clowndoctors England, supported by The Ragdoll Foundation. Building on Hearts&Minds’ work in hospices and residential units in Scotland, the aim of the pilot has been to offer the Clowndoctors approach to hospices to England, in order to assess demand and viabilty. Following a selection process, the Flying Clowndoctors visited six hospices across England at the start of July, spending a day with the children at each hospice. The feedback from hospice staff involved in the pilot project has been extremely positive: “It was very interesting to see in what way the Clowndoctors approached each child and how many reactions they could get from children with such different abilities.” Carer “Jane really relaxed... I thought how you worked with her was wonderful.” Carer (child’s name changed)

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SAC award of £30,000 for Clowndoctors Songlines (July 2003)
Hearts&Minds has been awarded £30,000 over two years by the Scottish Arts Council (under the National Lottery Access and Participation scheme) for a new development, Clowndoctors Songlines. This two-year project will include the development and delivery of musical, sound and storytelling activities for children who are blind and partially sighted and children with brain injuries. The research and development phases will being in August 2004, and the project will be led by Hearts&Minds’ Executive and Artistic Director Magdalena Schamberger in consultation with other three artists.

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Scottish Clowndoctors take part in International Exchange (February 2003)
In January 2003, Hearts&Minds participated in an International Clowndoctors Exchange with similar organisations in France and Spain. Hearts&Minds is the only Clowndoctors organisation in Scotland, and this was a valuable opportunity for our team to swap skills, knowledge and experience with similar organisations in other countries. Hearts&Minds’ practitioners Virginia Gillard and Ian Cameron visited Le Rire Medecin in Paris and had the opportunity to Clowndoctor in Paris hospitals alongside the French Clowndoctors. Clowndoctors from Spain (Payasopital) also took part. Later in the month, two members of Le Rire Medecin visited Hearts&Minds in Edinburgh to repeat the experience in Scottish hospitals.

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