Children In Need 'clown rounds' at Ipswich Hospital

Children In Need
By Jon Wright
BBC Suffolk

Dr Mischief and Dr Fidget test the bubbles for their hospital rounds

A Suffolk charity which sends clowns to hospital wards has been able to expand its service thanks to money from Children in Need.

Suffolk Artlink, which is based in Halesworth, has received over £60,000 as part of a three year grant for its Clown Round project.

"I'm an expert wiggleologist," said Dr Fillie Fidget.

"I'm a sparkleologist, looking for sparkles and generally finding a few!" said Dr Christobelle Mischief.

In the real world, Fillomena Christallino and Chris Draude are professional performers who work with the multi-disciplinary teams on the children's wards to entertain and distract young people and their families at what can be a very difficult time.

Clown Round can be spotted at Ipswich, James Pagett and Colchester hospitals.

"Working in the hospital environment is simply the best job in the world," said Mr Draude.

"Sensitivity, compassion and a big heart - it's the difference from the circus clown or the theatre clown. You've got to have that sensitivity which is so, so important.

"You need to be gentle and not in-your-face, you have to read the situation, read the energy before you do anything.

"So there's a lot of stuff going on before you even go near somebody.

"Sometimes we do stuff at a distance, like from the doorway, and you draw them in that way."

Music and laughter

Props, puppets and a red nose, but no face make up for Dr. Fidget

The pair have a host of props for their rounds and use performing arts, clowning, puppetry, magic, music and bubbles to engage the children.

At the moment the charity runs two clown sessions a week, but have recently recruited two more clowns.

"We had over 40 applicants for the two posts," said Fillomena Christallino.

"It was really hard to narrow it down as they were all really good."

At Ipswich Hospital, Ruth Pickover teaches on the children's wards.

"The clowns are brilliant," she said. "They are very tactful in their approach and very humorous.

"They come into the school room and they lighten the situation for us. When you have children who don't know each other, it's good to have some different input which is also hilarious!"

Go on, show us your spots!

Despite the economic conditions, the 2009 appeal raised a record breaking £39m which has helped hundreds of projects across the UK.

In 2010, over £120,000 has been awarded to four new projects in Suffolk - in Lowestoft, Stowmarket and Ipswich.

This year, Children in Need Day is Friday 19 November.

For more information on how to be a part of Children In Need 2010 visit the official website.