By Alice Barley | Fundraising and Communications Manager
We want to say a big thank you for your very kind support for our work through GlobalGiving. At the Theodora Children’s charity, we improve children’s experience of hospital. By combining music, play and storytelling, Giggle Doctors improve wellbeing and bring magical moments to children facing huge challenges with their health. We have been visiting children in hospitals, hospices and specialist care centres across England for 25 years. Last year, our 24 Giggle Doctors visited more than 33,000 sick and disabled children.
The best way to show the impact of your support is to share with you some of the wonderful feedback we receive from families of the children we visit.
"The Giggle Doctors came to see my daughter when she was inconsolable. After a few minutes of ringing their gentle bells and lovely lights she stopped crying and was mesmerised. They listened to my worries and sympathised. They are ladies with hearts of gold. Thank you so so much Dr Dotty and Dr Snug!" Parent
A more positive experience in hospital has been shown to aid recovery and the Giggle Doctors change the energy in the room, simply by being fully present for each child.
During their visits they aim to:
Each interaction is tailored to the child and the Giggle Doctor visits are designed to provide whatever the child needs at the time, whether it’s a joke, a song or simply companionship.
“They have a lovely manner with staff and are sensitive in the way they approach wards. They have an amazing ability to pull out all the stops with endless fun and things to do, whilst showing that their infection control procedures are impeccable. The children’s laughter shows how much they enjoy the sessions and we observed a child’s heart rate increase as they sang and slow when they stopped. They are professionals and have a clear understanding of their role in the hospital.” Hospital Play Coordinator
Measuring the impact of your support
We work closely with hospital staff to monitor the quality of our work through regular meetings. We collect feedback from children’s families through our online survey which is open all year round. This provides us with detailed information about the impact of the Giggle Doctor visits. We also carry out in depth interviews with parents of children who have been seen by the Giggle Doctors and who are keen to share their story with us. Through this we are able to learn more about their child and the impact our visits have had. In addition to the parent feedback survey we also send out a survey to NHS staff twice a year.
“I just wanted to say Dr Geehee and Dr Whoopee really brightened up my little boys’ day in hospital today. They were so funny and the magic was great! On his way home from hospital he said “this was a fun day!”. Thank you so much!”.Parent
How your support helps children like Eliza
We receive lots of feedback from families about how our Giggle Doctors have made an impact for their child and we wanted to share this story we received Eliza’s Mum about how our Giggle Doctors have helped:
“Eliza has juvenile arthritis, which means that her immune system attacks her joints and her eyes. Because of that she regularly has to go to the hospital for appointments. She can still see, but that is thanks to painful treatment and medication that she has to receive regularly. Eliza is very brave and gets on with it all, but the treatment is heavy and leaves her exhausted and nauseous. So even though all the nurses are incredible and make us feel welcome, the time she spends in hospital is quite difficult for her. As a mum, it is also tough for me too, seeing her going through this.
The Giggle Doctor visits were amazing. We have met both Dr Teapot and Dr Nic Nac. I particularly remember the first time we met Dr Teapot. We saw this man coming in our room with a teapot on his head! Within 30 seconds we were crying with laughter. He wasn’t just telling jokes, but fully entertaining us. We were hysterical. Even after he had left the room we were still laughing! It really cheered Eliza up and me too. It was a really special treat. It has also given her a positive memory of her time in hospital. Every time we have to go back to the hospital for another appointment, she asks if she will be able to see the Giggle Doctors again. It really does make a difference to children who are having treatment of any sort, but especially those with long term, chronic illnesses.’’
Thank you
Thank you so much for choosing to support our Giggle Doctor programme, enabling us to bring fun and laughter to children in hospital at a time when they need it most. Without your support, our work would not be possible.
If you have any questions or would like to talk further about our work, please feel free to get in touch at Theodora.uk@theodora.org.
Links:
By Alice Barley | Fundraising and Communications Manager
By Amy Calcutt | Fundraising and Communications Coordinator
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