As our flagship project, Clown Round, turns ten this month, we’re also celebrating the fantastic news that we’ve been awarded grants totalling £146,000 from Children in Need to continue bringing fun, laughter and distraction to young people and their families in hospitals and hospices across the East.
For the past ten years Drs Fidget, Misschief, Curley, Buffle and Daydream have been engaging young patients and their families in clowning, storytelling, music, magic, circus skills and improvisation.
Alex Casey, our Co-Director, explains: “Our Clown Doctors focus on supporting and empowering young patients during what can be a challenging time, tailoring activities thoughtfully and sensitively with each young person individually.
“Clown Round is one of our flagship projects, and as we celebrate its tenth birthday this month, we are delighted to receive generous funds from Children in Need to support the delivery of the project for another three years.”
We were granted £120,000 from Children in Need’s main grants programme to continue delivering a series of regular visits to Ipswich, Norfolk and Norwich, James Paget and Colchester Hospitals. A further £26,000 was awarded to us by the children’s charity’s small grants programme to help us deliver more visits from the Clown Doctors at two EACH hospices in Norfolk and Suffolk.
Jess Middleton, Senior Regional Officer of the Central Region, BBC Children in Need, commented: “Whether it’s a small or lasting difference, the projects we fund make a significant contribution the lives of the local children and young people they support, and we are proud to count Suffolk Artlink’s Clown Round amongst them.”