The Laughter Specialists would like to thank NFU Mutual Saffron Walden for a donation of over £3000 towards our charity supporting vulnerable children and families in creative ways during this pandemic. Out of adversity often comes amazing kindness and empathy for others. Thank You.
News
A bright star has gone
Maisie – A bright star has gone, but her light is in our memories.
Rest in Peace beautiful soul . .
In the recent times we have all found ourselves in the Coronavirus pandemic, and during this time our team at the Laughter Specialists have been creating new and different ways for us to support the amazing vulnerable children we serve. During this time, through our strong partnership with the amazing Harlow Fields school, I was privileged to be asked to do a home visit to one of their students, a young lady called Maisie. Unfortunately, the delightful Maisie had been diagnosed with cancer and was at the stage of receiving palliative care at home.
During my visits I was blessed to share the most magical moments with her and her family. We managed to have such joyful and fun times that lightened the hearts for all of us in such a difficult time. . She was enthusiastic and had a great sense of humour. Sadly Maisie passed away peacefully on Saturday 30th May 2020.
We send our heartfelt condolences to her family but also our gratitude in sharing such a personal and special time with us. The family have said that our visits were priceless for them and made their last couple of weeks with their Maisie truly special. I will be attending her funeral on Friday 12th June to say goodbye to this angel I shared some precious time with. Thank You Maisie you truly taught me things and thank you mum and dad for sharing your daughter with me.
Annie Aris
Co-Founder and Laughter Specialist Lead
Covid-19 Update
Dear Supporters & Partners,
Due to the COVID-19 crisis our Laughter Specialists visits to hospitals, hospices special schools and other centres are on hold for the time being. Whist we know this is very sad and disappointing, we know we must keep everybody safe and save our NHS. We do know that during this time the specialised work we do is more important than ever, and so we are working closely still with our colleagues in health, education, social care, partner organisations and families to develop and create new safe ways to continue supporting the health and wellbeing of those we visit. We fully support the guidelines of the government and are so appreciative of all the keyworkers and frontline staff who daily put themselves on the line for the rest of us.
We are working hard to use our creative juices to connect, alleviate stress, have fun and spread laughter via online digital sources as well as some carefully planned social distanced home visits in gardens and/or through windows. We know how important Laughter is to build resilience and keep us smiling and strong through these unprecedented times. Through our years of experience we know that humour is a great medicine in times of adversity and we will keep on working hard to bring you some joy and light during this time.
We are making group films to share, carrying out home visits, doing small group sessions on-line and making bespoke individual films for our special beneficiaries. If you know of any sick, poorly or disabled child in Herts, Essex or Cambs that could benefit from our service please get in touch and let us know and we will see what we can do. Also please follow us on social media and if you can give a donation to support this crucial work and make a difference please click here
Thank you to The Evelyn Trust
Thank you to The Evelyn Trust for responding rapidly to Covid 19-
This forward thinking Trust has supported the Laughter Specialists with a grant of £8000, enabling us to adapt our service during the pandemic. This includes outreach visits, making bespoke films and supporting vulnerable children under the care of Addenbrooke Hospitals.
The flexibility of some of our funders to help us meet these needs is remarkable and very welcomed by families in difficult circumstances.
Amberstone Security – Keeping the Laughter Specialists Service Safe with
more sponsorship
Thanks again to the amazing Amberstone Security and their unwavering support for our work. We can’t thank Jason, Kerinda, Mark and their team enough for their on-going time, business support and funds they give us .
They make such a difference to our charity and now three of them have kindly agreed to support us further as trustees. They are very much an important part of the Laughter Specialists family and we value their passion and commitment.
Cinderella raises over £18,000
The Cambridge Arts Theatres spectacular family pantomime Cinderella raised over £18,000 for selected charities through bucket collections – an outstanding £3,000 more than the prior year!!
The other charities that benefitted from the wonderful audiences’ generosity also included
- Cambridge Joint Playschemes
- Headway Cambridgeshire
- Macmillan Cambridge
- Addenbrooke’s Hospital Paediatric Music Therapy
- Prostate Cancer UK
- Royal Society for Blind Children
- Panto Wheels, the theatres own charity which enables students from disadvantaged areas and those with special educational needs to experience a trip to the pantomime.
Kat Collins, Head of Sales and Marketing at the Cambridge Arts Theatre said:
“We are all delighted with the amount of money our audiences have raised this year, particularly as funds managed to surpass last year’s total. The selected charities will benefit immensely and are extremely grateful for our audiences’ generosity.”
We at The Laughter Specialists would like to extend our appreciation and gratitude to the theatre for the honour of choosing us as a charity, and to all who joined them at their pantomime Cinderella and generously donated. You have made a real difference to some vulnerable children !!!!!
Funny Times
Taking care of sick children is no laughing matter, but one Saffron Walden, Essex based charity is expanding across East Anglia by successfully tickling the funny bones of vulnerable young patients and their parents.
Sponsorship Contained!
We are delighted to announce that Containerlift of Dunmow, Essex, have agreed to sponsor The Laughter Specialists to the tune of £5000. Of course, we are ecstatic in knowing this will help us diversify across the region and we look forward to working with them to raise our profiles and come together to celebrate the unison at many planned events across the year. Managing Director, Joost Baker, said “we are extremely proud to be supporting such a wonderful cause.”
Kerinda’s London Marathon 2019
The amazing Kerinda Trigg will be running the 2019 Virgin London Marathon to raise money for the Laughter Specialists.
This is one of the biggest challenges that anyone can take on. It is an incredible feat to accomplish, especially for a mum of young children as I am sure many of you will appreciate.
The Laughter Specialists Charitable Trust bring our own special blend of laughter and care to some very poorly children and their families, in many hospitals around the area. Hospital life can be traumatic and lonely but The Laughter Specialists brighten the lives of those children.
The Laughter Specialists also visit a variety of schools for children with special needs and autism, reaching out to children and teenagers that need laughter in their lives, relieving their stress and anxiety, and opening doors to enhance their communication.
We are so excited for Kerinda’s challenge and we will be supporting her throughout.
Click here to donate and show Kerinda that you are supporting her in this event, and our charity.
A Smile a Mile
The Laughter Specialists had ‘A Smile a Mile’ event on Saturday 23rd March 2019, in Saffron Walden centre, raising awareness and money for The Laughter Specialists, spearheaded by Kerinda Trigg who is running the London Marathon for our benefit.
