- The Waiting Programme workshops
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The Comedy Trust is committed to researching the relationship between laughter, humour and health and Well Being. The Trust has now hosted four International Conferences around this subject, please visit The Conference Page for more details.
- The trust regularly delivers comedy based workshops in hospitals, primary health trusts, schools, health & community centres, sheltered housing and businesses with both service users and providers.
Some of the key health projects we have been delivering over the last 12 months include;
Alder Hey Children’s Hospital
The Comedy Trust is one of the Cultural Champion partners at Alder Hey Children's Hospital. Our relationship with the hospital began back in 2005 when we undertook some preliminary work including : a staff development day exploring stand up comedy with the Play Specialist team; workshops exploring comedy and stand up in both the canteen area in the hospital and ward based sessions with smaller groups of children and young people.
- Workshop at Alder Hey Children's Hospital
Since 2005 The Comedy Trust have continued to work in collaboration with Alder Hey through the Cultural Champions Programme to develop programmes of work that leave sustainable resources for the hospital. Work undertaken has included staff CPD programmes to explore the relationship between comedy, humour, creativity and health and well being, production of staff creative humour toolkits to ensure the work is continued long after the programme has finished. The programme has also involved the production of several child friendly procedure booklets for the Oncology department, which have been designed and developed by illustrator James Munro.
In 2008 The trust will be working with Alder Hey Hospital to develop an observation & co-coaching training model with play specialist staff, to explore how creative approaches can be taken on the wards, along with more procedure booklets in collaboration with illustrator James Munro. Alder Hey & The Comedy Trust Case Study will be presented at the 2008 Joking Aside Humour Conference.
Waiting
Waiting is a highly innovative creative health & well-being initiative developed and funded by Liverpool Culture Company, in partnership with the Primary Care Trust's and arts and cultural organisations including The Comedy Trust, FACT & Chatarunga.
Illustrations from the Waiting Project
This programme aspires to engage people in creative approaches, to show that health and having fun can go arm in arm. Through the creative process we are seeking to explore in meaningful ways the concept of Waiting and asking the question: How we can live more healthily?
Throughout 2007 & 2008 the programme has seen a whole host of creative activity being developed, including comedy, dance and bird song all taking place in waiting rooms, hospitals, health centres across Liverpool.
The Comedy Trust have worked with a core group of participants from the Breath Easy Lung Foundation Support group and the young mums group in Everton to develop a humour toolkit for health and well-being. This project will be developed further with more support groups throughout 2008.
For more information about the Waiting Rooms Project please contact us on 0870 443 0955, email us at info@thecomedytrust.com or visit the Liverpool Culture Company website at www.liverpool08.com
To find out more about our health and well-being workshops and courses please contact Jenny@thecomedytrust.com
Alsop High School Research Project - Learning via Humour
The Comedy Trust have completed a research study alongside Creative Partnerships Merseyside, to explore the feasibility of using humour as a teaching method to aid pupil engagement and achievement in Alsop High School.
Past studies conducted by the trust have witnessed positive changes in student’s behaviour in terms of confidence building and improved communication skills. Furthermore academic research suggests that humour can be an extremely effective tool in education. Researchers have found that humour used by teachers can help to relax students, reduce tension and generate a positive class atmosphere.
To read the full research report please email us at info@thecomedytrust.com
