About The Clowndoctors
What happens during a visit?
What are the benefits?
Who are the Clowndoctors?
Watch Us Work
Where we visit
How are we funded?
Can I become a Clowndoctor?
What happens during a visit?
Play specialists and healthcare staff, including nurses and consultants, refer individual children to the Clowndoctors and give a reason for the referral alongside basic information about the child's age, interests and medical condition. Some children who are in long-term care may be referred to the Clowndoctors on a regular basis during their stay.
Clowndoctor practitioners make a plan for the day, change into their costumes and remain in character until visits are finished. At the end of the day practitioners record successes or developments of each interaction and this is fed back to healthcare staff.
What are the benefits?
Because visits are tailored to the individual child, the reactions and benefits that come from each interaction vary hugely. Some benefits may be specific to the child and their situation, others are more general and can include:
- Addressing issues of boredom, powerlessness and isolation
- Providing distraction from illness or pain
- Parodying and demystifying medical procedures and jargon
- Reducing stress and anxiety
- Building self-confidence
- Encouraging empowerment and interaction
- Developing physical skills and encouraging movement
- Providing access to the arts via professional performing artists
- Encouraging well-being through laughter
- Developing communication and social skills
- Encouraging social inclusion and communication through the arts
- Accessibility for children with physical and learning disabilities
Who are the Clowndoctors?
It takes a special person to become a Clowndoctor. As well as exceptional talent as a performer, practitioners need to have proven experience of working with children, an empathetic outlook and a great deal of common sense!
The Clowndoctors are carefully selected professional performers who are specially trained to work in a healthcare environment with vulnerable people. They use many techniques including improvisation, music and rhythm, song, dance, magic, puppetry, games and storytelling to engage with each child. They willingly accept orders from the children and will take the lead from any ideas and enthusiasms that pop-up during the visit, for example a love of cars or football, dancing or computer games.
Clowndoctors are not scary clowns! No intimidating make-up, crazy wigs or big feet are used. They wear colourful clothing and a bright yellow doctor's coat and carry scarves, instruments and squeaky things to play with. Using gentle, character clowning, they create clown characters who are naïve and optimistic people who find hope in every situation and excitement in the smallest things. Think Laurel & Hardy, Morecambe & Wise, Ben Stiller or Jack Black.
Our Clowndoctors do wear a red nose – as an internationally recognized symbol of fun it is an immediate invitation to play. And it looks funny! Clowndoctors always work in pairs as this allows them to play off each other, create mini-performances and generally clown around.
Watch Us Work
Here’s a link to a short film from the 2009 Children in Need programme that shows two of our Clowndoctors visiting Mark and his family at Rachel House.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00580v3
Where we visit
Edinburgh Royal Hospital for Sick Children twice per week
Glasgow Royal Hospital for Sick Children twice per week
Kinross Rachel House once per week
Livingston Sunndach fortnightly
Edinburgh Calareidh fortnightly
Balloch Robin House monthly
Dundee Ninewells Hospital monthly
Dundee Maggie's Centre monthly
Inverness Raigmore Hospital monthly
Livingston St. John's Hospital quarterly
Stirling Stirling Royal Infirmary quarterly
Edinburgh Barnardo's Caern Project monthly
Aberdeen Camphill weekly in 8-week-blocks
Robin House, Balloch twice a month.
We would like to visit many more places, much more frequently! Our plans include developing summer holiday visits in Edinburgh and Glasgow and expanding to additional hospitals. This is all dependent on funding.
How are we funded?
Hearts & Minds operates an ongoing fundraising campaign to allow us to continue to provide the Clowndoctors programme to participating units and expand it to new ones. At present, much of our funding is made up from charitable trusts and foundations, with the remainder from a variety of sources including the Scottish Government, the NHS, Creative Scotland, local authorities, businesses and individuals.
If you would like to know more or would like to make a donation follow the links below!
Get Involved
Donate
Can I become a Clowndoctor?
We get asked this all the time! I takes a special person to be a Clowndoctor – you must have professional acting or clowning experience and experience working with vulnerable people or children. As well as a great sense of fun, maturity and sensitivity are a must. Professional performers with a minimum of five years performance experience who would like to be considered as Clowndoctors/Elderflowers may want to consider any of the following teachers for Clowning training (this list is not comprehensive):
- Pierre Byland, Switzerland: www.burlesk-center.ch
- Philippe Gaulier, Paris, France: www.ecolephilippegaulier.com
- Jacques Lecoq school, Paris, France: www.ecole-jacqueslecoq.com/index_uk.htm
- Jos Houben, Paris
- Members of Theatre de Complicite, London and abroad
- Angela de Castro, London: www.contemporaryclowningprojects.com/noflash/who_dc.htm
- Tim Licata/Ian Cameron, Plutot la Vie Theatre Company, plutotlavie@blueyonder.co.uk
If you would like to send us your CV please contact enquiries@heartsminds.org.uk or check our News section for current vacancies.
