Platinum Pledge: bringing joy to one million kids

For this report, we would like to share something a little different about the impact of our work.

In addition to reaching thousands of children across the world through our Give the Gift of Laughter project, we are delighted to share with you that we now have two evaluation and research projects that evidence our work. This supports and backs up what we know, of the benefits of play in crisis, and specifically of our Flying Seagulls model.

We know from our impact reporting that our projects result in improved wellbeing, skills, relations, confidence, self esteem and pride. But something new, that we are extremely proud of, is that we can now say that our work is evidence based. Our impact findings are now underpinned by two independent research pieces that have been conducted into the efficacy of our work.

1) Independent research by Swansea University shows that our projects: 

• encourage and facilitate social engagement
• enable children to develop and explore their own agency and autonomy despite their surroundings
• relax participants and help build self-esteem and overcome their shyness
• support participants to learn new and interesting things beyond the focus of adaptation and survival
• enable play for play’s sake
• support skills and knowledge development 

2) PhD Thesis “Playtime in the Camps – An Ethnography of Play and Circus in Refugee Camps” University of Birmingham

The aim of this research was to explore the transformative role of play, circus, and performance in the lives of children living in refugee camps. Findings show increased agency of children over their own experiences; ability to break pre-defined structures or connotations of being passive victims, instead enabling their ‘capacity to act’; increased spatial justice, where children co-create their own safe and playful spaces where they can express themselves and thrive. Simple objects—stones, hula hoops, or a parachute—purposefully take on new meanings as they became tools for connection, creativity, hope and joy.

In summary: “The pedagogical practices of The Flying Seagull Project offer fertile ground for rethinking humanitarian interventions, raising questions about how play and performance can be central to creating meaningful spaces for children’s well-being and potential growth.”

Thank you for believing in the power of play.