Tŷ Gobaith children and their families make memories at Theatr Clwyd

Special Family Day at the Mold theatre is the end of a three-year-long partnership between the children’s hospice and Theatr Clwyd.

Twelve children with life-limiting illnesses and their families came together at Theatr Clwyd for a day of fun, entertainment and enjoyment which spanned the generations.

The culmination of the Start Hospice Project, a partnership between Tŷ Gobaith Children’s Hospice (part of Hope House Children’s Hospices) and Theatr Clwyd, brought more than 60 people – children, their siblings, parents, grandparents and hospice staff into the theatre for a relaxed, interactive performance of Animal Tales from Around the World by Vagabondi theatre company.

The actors met and chatted with the families, who also shared afternoon tea at an event to foster creativity, develop communication and produce a store of good memories.

Over the third and final year the project has provided new support for the children and their families through participation in a variety of workshops and performances, devised and facilitated by Theatr Clwyd’s Creative Engagement Department.

The Young Adults Group, for age 16 and over, devised and created a digital film which was screened at Theatr Clwyd during the Family Day.

In spring of this year younger children and their families enjoyed a performance of Sammy and the Snow Leopard, whilst over the Easter holidays older and younger siblings of young people in the care of the hospice created their own pieces of theatre, complete with costumes and lit by professional theatre technicians, which were performed for family and friends in the Clwyd Room at the theatre.

Gwennan Mair Jones, Theatr Clwyd’s Director of Creative Engagement, commented;

I am extremely happy that we have a strong relationship with Tŷ Gobaith. I had the privilege of running the workshop with 12 families on Saturday. We shared, laughed a lot and made playful

We shared, laughed a lot and made playful dens, it was a joy! This project is so important to me and I truly hope we can work together in the future. I believe projects like this make such a difference to people’s lives and that is what the arts are all about.

The project was made possible with the support of Children & The Arts and its Start Hospices programme.

This enables arts venues throughout the UK to partner with local hospices for the first time, to create arts opportunities outside of the hospice environment for children coping with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions and, through these experiences, make happy memories with their families.