Theodora Children’s Charity was founded in 1994 by two brothers in Switzerland. It’s mission is very simple – to help sick children in hospitals and hospices. Being in hospital can be a stressful time for a young child so the concept of Giggle Doctors can play a big part in aiding their recovery. A funny doctor who does surprising and silly things will bring a smile and perhaps laughter to someone who is isn’t feeling at their best. What a brilliant idea.
The visit could be very simple like blowing bubbles or using magic tricks and it is tailored uniquely to each child. These Giggle Doctors are experts at discovering how to connect with their patient and we all know that laughter is a medicine in itself.
The statistics are impressive. In 2022 4978 sick and disabled children were visited by a Giggle Doctor. Out of these visits 100% of parents said the Giggle Doctor improved their child’s experience of hospital and over 75% said their child was more playful after a visit.
The first UK branch was opened at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in 1994 and there are now 22 Giggle Doctors across the UK. One of them, Doctor Princezz is special to us because she is our Company Director in Solihull.
We have supported Theodora for over 10 years now. In 2018 in a single Saturday, we raised £62,738.92 for the charity. We know that many parents understand and want to support this wonderful work by Theodora. In fact, I can’t think of a better or more appropriate charity for us to support.
This November we are setting up a danceathon and we shall try to beat the amount we raised last time. It works like this. We set up a 30-minute loop of music from previous productions, press play and off they go – usually led by the company choreographer. Hopefully each student finds a group of people to sponsor them – it’s as simple as that. We know that the money is much needed and will enable more of those smile-and-laughter inducing visits to take place.
