Clowns Without Borders UK uses laughter and play as a stabilising force for children in crisis zones. They share joyful performances and workshops with marginalised children and train frontline workers to use play to engage, inspire and support children.
Working with professional performance artists, the organisation provides emotional and psychosocial ‘first aid’ to support children’s well-being at a critical time. All work uses evidence-based practice to develop activities that build resilience and make space for children to be seen and heard. The principles of clowning – playfulness, generosity and collaboration – shape all their interventions and make them uniquely capable of helping bring joy to vulnerable children.
In 2023, Clowns Without Borders UK will deliver child-centred performances and supporting workshops for Syrian and Turkish children near the Syrian border and in Istanbul and Ankara. This is a continuation of Clowns Without Borders UK commitment to the region where they’ve been active in Turkey since 2016, and have a team of local performance artists in Turkey.
Their plans include:
- Reaching 2,500 Syrian and Turkish children (plus parents and carers) through at least 20 play-based performances and supporting workshops delivered by our expert facilitators and performance artists
- Training at least 50 adults from local and grass-root NGOs through CWB UK’s ‘Laughter and Play’ approach enabling them to provide their play-based workshops and performances for even more children.
