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creating transformative experiences for learning disabled young people

As we embark on the second year of our Bamboozle @ Home project, we asked artist Miriam Keye to write a blog about her experience on Year 1 of the project with Josie and her family and carers.

Read below to find out what was discovered.


Is it ever truly possible to travel a mile in someone else’s shoes?

The Bamboozle @ Home project creates the space for pairs of artists to be in the family home of a young person who may be described as having profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) for five sessions of three hours each. I have found it to be an incredible experience – rare and very precious.

Four families were involved in the Spring 2024 round. The young person and their family were invited to choose their preferred two artforms- music, theatre, storytelling, puppetry, visual arts, crafting, dance. My specialism is dance and movement. I was paired with a musician called Lara and we were invited to be “At Home with Josie”.

The invitation for us Bamboozle @ Home artists was to simply be at home with the young person and their family. To come without expectation, desire or any need to produce anything. To simply get to know the young person, to invite them to show us what they prefer, what they enjoy, and to allow our time together to grow in ways we may not have ever expected. One of the artists described it as “…going in to meet a fellow collaborator, rather than doing things with or for the young person, we are all creating equally together”.

Josie is a young adult. She attends college, has achieved a Duke of Edinburgh award, and volunteers at a charity working with animals. She has been coming to Bamboozle shows and residencies since she was a young child. She can be very clear to give a yes/no response to clear questions and she will absolutely indicate whether she is enjoying something or not – she has the most incredible smile that lights up the room and all the surrounding areas. She is so likeable with a fantastic sense of humour – when she left school her teachers and teaching assistants followed her to become her personal carers. We got to experience her cheeky side when she was choosing who she wanted to dance with to the song Lara was playing. We went all around the room saying each person’s name separately, Josie said ‘No’ to each person until… we landed on the one carer she works with who had specifically revealed to her how embarrassing she finds it to dance in front of strangers!! So, who does she choose? Of course! It was hilarious and such a wonderful introduction to her and the rest of Team Josie.

Our first visit to her home happened to be May Day and knowing that she had specifically chosen dance and music we figured out a way to create a maypole in her front room!! Josie chose who would have which colour ribbon, she chose the tempo and style of music, and we all proceeded to dance around the maypole… or should I say we tried to… we ended up completely tangled in each other’s ribbons and tied to the pole itself. It was absolute comical, total mayhem. Upon watching her carer’s movements with Josie it was clear that the feeling of being spun around the room in her wheelchair was something Josie was enjoying. That and daft, physical humour brought lots of smiles. With Spring being connected to the element of wood we went around the house to find wooden items to create sounds with… needless to say this turned into a veritable feast of slapstick games- popping out from behind curtains, climbing the unclimbable and leaping off places that really should not be leapt off!

No two of our sessions with Josie were the same depending on her mood, her energy and what she had already been doing on that day. Lara played wonderful covers of some of Josie’s favourite songs, we had under bedsheet discos with full on flashing disco lights, vocalisation jams, dances with large and small rainbow scarves and explored a very wide range of instruments. We noticed that Josie gave a big smile every time Lara’s voice hit certain notes when she was singing. We chatted with Josie and she let us know that she could feel the resonance in her belly. This led us to exploring instruments that resonate – an old horn, a rainstick, voices, guitar and the cello. We laid the cello alongside Josie so that she could feel it vibrating on her body. Josie held the bow and played different strings. The look on her face was priceless and will always remain as a precious memory in my heart.

Our last session with Josie was focused on hearing Josie’s choices about which videos and photographs she wanted to share at the final evaluation sharing day. All the families and artists involved in the project had been invited to attend the sharing day so we wanted to make sure that Josie was in charge of how her experience would be represented. Josie had just returned from her Duke of Edinburgh award celebration and she was shattered. She indicated ‘No’ to practically every video we showed her. We almost went down the road of making the decisions for her. Instead we asked her if she would rather return to consider these decisions when she felt more rested, on a different day… and to this question she gave a very clear ‘YES’. So we left Josie and her Team to make the decisions without us. We didn’t think to ask if us being there was perhaps restricting her choices, maybe there were moments that she didn’t want to reject in front of us in case it hurt our feelings. I don’t know. Together they chose videos and photographs depicting a number of moments that were key for her. Josie specifically requested that we organised it for her to play the cello live. This was a huge treat for all of us at the sharing day. It also gave one of the young people from a different family the opportunity to try playing the cello as well. So beautiful.

One of the two beliefs behind Bamboozle’s Approach is “Children, whatever their abilities or disabilities, know more than we might think, and can do more than anyone yet realises.” Seeing someone in their own home environment, the place that has literally been created as their safest, most enabled space, is incredible. Connie and Tim worked with James’s family with music and puppetry. They had previously only ever met James when he was in his wheelchair. Tim fed back to us that in “… James’s padded bedroom he’s completely removed from his chair and his movement is entirely his own. And his mobility is so high. He’s not slowly moving around the space. It’s halfway between some sort of fast-paced ballet and a mosh pit. It’s intense, fast, running and throwing himself down, then getting back up and keeping on going. How differently I saw him in his own environment, in a space that’s highly enabling for him.” The music ended up being less vital to their visits than the puppetry – in particular Hooter Bird – and moving together in James’s safe space.

Abbie is another young person who was involved in the project. Her family fed back that:

“Abbie has always loved music , it is her favourite activity at home and school and it is always our go to if she is unwell or unhappy. Abbie has her favourite songs which lift her and these are played regularly in our house, but if something new is introduced she often appears indifferent to it. The time she has spent with Dawn and Tim (the artists), however, has made me realise how open Abbie is to so much more….. Their patience and understanding of Abbie’s need to process, and  the time that takes, created an opportunity for Abbie to express herself that so few environments or activities allow,  and the results were beautiful – it felt it was a true collaboration of which Abbie had an equal role in. She was an active participant, not a passive recipient and there were no expectations which  meant she was given the rare opportunity to do things her way in her time, with wonderful results.  Seeing the pride in Abbie’s face  when she was listening to her creations was just magical ❤️.”

Being able to spend this amount of uninterrupted time, with no expectations, no pressure to produce, in the family’s own home, a space enabled specifically for them is just wonderful.

Researchers say that only 7% of our communication is actually conveyed through the use of words. 38% is conveyed through the tone of our voice and 55% through our body language. Much research has also been done on the bioelectric magnetic fields emanating from our cells, our tissues, our organs … essentially our energetic communication.

Bamboozle @ Home with Josie has been a circular journey for me. My impetus to work as a dance and movement artist has always been a love of communication without words. A love of finding ways to connect with others who maybe don’t communicate as society likes us to believe we ‘should’. In exploring with Josie, Lara and I spent a lot of time asking her yes/ no questions. We found ourselves wanting to pause, to check if she was truly aligned with what we were proposing. We wanted to leave room for her to speak up, to maybe suggest something entirely different – something unfamiliar to all of us, something untested. To communicate with words! And there were moments when we sensed her weariness, possibly even some impatience. As though she simply wanted us to stop overthinking and just trust: play the music, move our bodies, and lose ourselves in the joy of the moment. To follow her lead through the languages that mainstream society doesn’t always recognise; to pick up on her vibrations, her energy field, her magnetic resonance, her smiles… or frowns, her gentle hums and sighs… or growls. To essentially return to our vital selves. And what a beautiful journey this has been. To explore communication and connection in its raw undefined state.

And so, instead of trying to walk any distance in Josie’s shoes, we uncovered a much deeper journey – one of synergy and resonance, a looping path of wonder and shared discovery. Vibrations widening and rippling outward, like a clown boot stamping in a never-ending puddle. The sense that we are merely fellow travellers alongside so many who seek to break down the walls of preconception, to smudge the edges of the narrow acceptable views and live in a society where communication can thrive in the places between, around and under the words … as well, of course, as within the words themselves.


The opportunity to get involved in our Bamboozle @ Home project is shared with families signed up to our family database. If this project sounds like something you and your family would like to join, you can sign up to our database here.

This project is funded by the The National Lottery’s Community Fund.

We feel honoured to be supported by Amy Mayo who is selling her first ever book ‘The Eye of the Storm’ to raise funds for Bamboozle during our 30th year.

Amy has been attending Bamboozle events since she was 5 years old.

This book was written word by word alongside Amy’s English tutor using her spelling book and EyeCommander.

You can buy ‘Eye of the Storm’ here.

Christopher Davies has written a blog post below where you can find out more about this incredible story!


Children whatever their abilities or disabilities can do more than we realise.

Guests were arriving at Winstanley House for Bamboozle’s annual Gala Dinner when Iona came up to me saying she had something to tell me and began rummaging round in her bag. I have known Iona for 17 years since she first brought her profoundly disabled daughter Amy to a Bamboozle family residency. Amy was four then and not expected to live beyond her 10th birthday. She is now 21. She has cerebral palsy, and her father Neil says that if the spectrum of CP is one to ten then Amy is eleven. Amy is very difficult to read, even for those who know her well. Her facial expression remains almost the same whether she is experiencing pleasure or pain, excitement or boredom. This makes it difficult for the rest of us to understand her and communicate with her. But if you are patient, keenly observant and wait long enough then, as we will see, many things are possible.

When she was about six Amy was part of a three-day residency with five other children with similarly complex needs. They had come with their non-disabled siblings, parents and carers to take part in an exploration of the Michael Rosen delightful multi-sensory story We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. Over the first two days we had explored the swishy swashy grass and the squelchy squerchy mud and stumble tripped through the forest until on the third day we arrived close to the bear’s cave.

We could hear growling and rumbling coming from the distant end of the theatre studio.

The Bear?

Must be, mustn’t it?

The group were gathered together – some in their wheelchairs, others on bean bags and Amy in Iona’s arms on her lap. What should we do? Keeping my voice in a whisper so as not to be heard by the bear, I asked:

“Is anyone willing to go down there, see what they can find out and come back and tell us what’s going on?”

I have to admit that, not knowing then what I do now, I was addressing this question mostly to the non-disabled siblings. How dumb was I? It was Amy who reacted; she lurched forward in her mother’s arms. Now many people with Cerebral Palsy have frequent uncontrolled movements but Amy does not – so the lurch forwards seemed to indicate something purposeful.

“Amy, would you like to go down there and have a look to see what is going on and come and report back?”

She lurched again.

Now, none of us know exactly what Amy was trying to communicate in that moment but it certainly seemed to be intentional. So, if it was intentional what did that mean? Was she reading the anticipation in the room and motioning that she wanted to be part of it? Did she read the tone and inflection in my voice and decide that something significant was about to happen? Or had she followed every bit of the story over the past two days and knew that the dénouement was approaching and wanted to be there? Did she understand every word of my question? Had she understood every word spoken over the last three days. Who knows? But her lurch seemed to be saying “Yes I’ll go and find out.” We don’t know for sure, but we do know that in that moment we all realised that Amy understood more than we thought she did up until that time.

Another breakthrough followed when Neil, her dad, thought that he noticed that Amy was blinking back at him. Painstaking hours of trial and error followed until breakthrough. He discovered that when Amy blinked once she meant “No”, and twice was “Yes.” And Amy’s world was changed for ever. Now the adults around her could ask yes and no questions and she could for the first time make meaningful choices.

Over the ensuing years progress was slow but moved forward until Jonathan Bryan appeared in the consciousness. Jonathan Bryan also has cerebral palsy and had spent the first few years of his school life very frustrated in special school classrooms with no means of communicating his needs and understandings until his mother and a teacher realised that he knew more than they thought he did. He wrote Eye Can Write by choosing one letter at a time on a low-tech wooden frame device with the letters of the alphabet arranged and eloquently expressed the journey of his life so far.

After Iona and Amy watched the video of Jonathan’s book launch, with the Archbishop of Canterbury and Michael Morpurgo in attendance, Iona asked her if she would like to learn to read. She blinked faster than anyone had ever seen. “Yes, Yes, Yes!!”

Photo of one of our participants reaching out to a large puppet of a white goose whose head inclines towards their outstretched hand.
Amy at our River of Baada residency in 2022 with her carer and Lucy the Goose.

Back to Iona rummaging in her bag amongst the arriving guests at the Bamboozle Gala Dinner. She brought out the first proof copy of “Eye of the Storm” by Amy Mayo. A short story she has written with the help of her teacher. Using her blinks as Yes and No she had chosen every word with great precision and the result is a richly described short story. Hard back, beautifully designed cover and a Foreword by Bella Ramsey.

Amy decided to write the book as a response to Bamboozle’s invitation for people to make a pledge to raise money to celebrate our 30th year.

How many children like Amy do we misjudge? Many is the answer. It’s so easy to do. If someone had told any of us when we were trying to find ways to communicate with the five-year-old little girl with no expression on her face, no words, no purposeful movement, no ability to eat or swallow that age 21 she would publish her first book we would have thought them deluded.

We were the deluded ones. Amy has shown that she can do more, much more, than we thought she could. She has taught us all another critical lesson.

You can buy ‘Eye of the Storm’ here.

On Saturday the 21st of September we hosted our 30th anniversary fundraising Gala dinner and charity auction at Winstanley House in Leicester. We had an incredible evening joined by businesses and individual supporters, and we raised an astonishing £15,274.

We are so thrilled with the amazing auction lots that were generously donated. We feel that the unique aspect of our Gala is that 100% of the prize value that is donated on the night is received by Bamboozle to directly benefit our work with disabled children and young people. 

The evening was a magical journey to the stars with performances by our very own Bamboozle Moonstarers, The Daisy Belles and Enter Edem alongside a silent, sealed and live auction which was auctioneered by Peter Evans.

We’d like to personally thank all our donors below – your support has enabled Bamboozle to continue supporting disabled children with complex needs, and autistic children and young people, and their families in our community. 

Art

Original Paul Wright’s 

We were delighted to feature four stunning pieces by Leicestershire artist Paul Wright. Paul is a long-standing supporter of Bamboozle and has donated pieces of his work to our charity auctions for many years.  

Paul is a hugely successful artist with a unique style which has earned him a place at the BP National Portrait Award on no less than two occasions. Paul received further awards from The National Gallery for the annual BP Award and he made the shortlist for grand prize in 2014. 

This year Paul donated four stunning pieces:  

  • Dancer with a rainbow dress – oil on linen, 110cm x 90cm 
  • Beautiful soul – oil on linen 50cm x 50cm 
  • Goofy – oil on linen 50cm x 50cm 
  • Headland – oil on lined 40cm x 50cm 

 

Collection by Tony Heaton OBE 

British sculptor and disability rights activist Tony Heaton OBE. Heaton’s recent solo exhibition at Attenborough Arts explored Heaton’s sculptural practice from his early disability rights activism and his initiation of the National Disability Arts Collection and Archive (NDACA), to more recent work that includes direct stone carving and neon text pieces.  

Tony Heaton is an artist who has exhibited nationally and internationally. Major commissions include Gold Lamé winning the commission to be the first sculpture sited on the Liverpool Plinth in 2018 and Monument to the Unintended Performer, installed on the Big 4 outside Channel 4 TV in celebration of the 2012 London Paralympics. 

Theatre & Cinema

We had an array of tickets to see some amazing theatre including My Fair Lady at Curve Theatre, a family ticket for Snow White’s opening night at De Montfort Hall, Stickman at The Bloomsbury Theatre, Curious Investigators at Attenborough Arts Centre, The Jolly Christmas Postman at the Royal & Derngate, two performances at The Wolverhampton Arena and a comedy night at The Y Theatre. Phoenix Cinema also kindly donated tickets to see any film at their newly extended independent cinema.

Harborough Jewels 

We featured stunning pieces that sparkled by Steffans Jewellers and Wilkinsons Goldsmiths who both run their businesses in Market Harborough.

Established in 1976, Steffans Jewellers is a veritable trove of treasures, stocking and sourcing the most tasteful pieces made from the highest quality of materials.  

Wilkinson Goldsmiths is a small independently run workshop and showroom, creating beautiful handmade rings, pendants, earrings & other pieces in all precious metals, unique to the client. These beautiful pieces were highly sought after on the night. Be sure to visit these Jewellers websites to find out more about their services and jewellery. 

Experiences for you

We had a wonderful range of gifts designed for our guests to treat themselves or their business, from spa and leisure days for two at Champneys and Ullesthorpe Court Hotel, to personalised Life Coaching with Natasha Ayres, Canva training with Clare McCabe at Purple Star Design or a Social Media review for your business with Bloom Assistants, an afternoon tea at the Gala host venue itself Winstanley House or Gin Tasting at Stoughton Grange and a Reiki Session with Energy Healer Joanne Davies.

Discovery days 

We had some stunning tourist destinations filled with heritage; treat the family to trips to Rockingham Castle, and Lamport Hall. For lovers of an off road experience, we had a Landrover Driving Experience at the East of England Landrover Centre. For those looking to create a lasting memory, we had a Pal Tiya experience day with The Shires Workshop.

Stunning stays 

Hugely generous donations of stays at holiday homes in Sennen, St Agnes and the Malvern Hills. A huge thank you to Catherine Walker, David Beeson and Tony and Karen Smith for these kind donations.

Unique prizes 

We had a rare special-interest prize comprising of Shackleton’s whiskey and first edition signed and personalised books about Shackleton’s whiskey and the phenomenal Endurance 22 expedition.  Bamboozle artist and international soprano Amy Whittle provided a unique opportunity to sing at an event. We offered a fascinating process of how diggers, loaders, and other powerful machines are brought to life, from design to production on a JCB factory tour. Long time Bamboozle artist and Personal Stylist Glenys Xavier donated a session with her from GX Personal Styling. Our very own Executive Director Ruth donated her services as a celebrant for a personalised ceremony with her company Handmade Ceremonies. Plus local award-winning garden designer Chris Cooper-Hayes kindly donated a session with him to help the lucky winner redesign their garden.

Sports

We had an array of sports based prizes this year with prizes including:


With special thanks to:

Our sponsors: 

Minuteman Press Lutterworth for sponsoring our beautiful programmes 

Van sponsors: City Self Drive

Minuteman Press Lutterworth Logo

Our Executive Tables: 

Paragon Sales Solutions and ACE Cleaning 

Logo for Paragon Sales SOlutions depicting a blue diamond

Our Charity of the Year positions 

Thanks to Torr Waterfield and Fosse Business Breakfast Club for fundraising for us throughout 2024.

Logo for Torr Waterfield accountants and business advisers with dark blue lettering

Business network south Leicestershire – thank you for your year-round support from members of the group. 

Our Patron

Huge thank you to our Patron Bella Ramsey who continuously helps us to raise the profile of our work and this year donated some signed merchandise to our auction.

Our Trustees

As always, we are forever grateful to our Board of Trustees, artists and office team for their dedication to our work and to our families.  

And a huge thank you to everyone who attended, bid and committed their support to our Bamboozle Gala this year.

We asked Sue Pyecroft, our Co-Founder and Associate Director of Families & Community, to tell us more about our current collaborative project with Italian theatre company Artevox Teatro.

When Artevox Teatro, an established Italian children’s theatre company near Milan, decided to create work for learning disabled (LD) audiences they were recommended to Bamboozle by Noel Jordan, Festival Director at Imaginate.  Marta Galli and Anna Maini, co-founders of Artevox, joined Bamboozle’s online trainings and then attended our Summer School in person in 2023.  They then invited Christopher to speak about accessible theatre at two festivals in Italy and have engaged us to advise on the creation of a new outdoor show for autistic audiences. To that end, Christopher and I set off for Italy at the end of May to attend a Festival before joining Artevox, Pandemonium Teatro and Campsirago Residenza for a week’s research and development at Campsirago’s base in the foothills of the Alps in June 2024.   

After the craziness of getting through Stansted airport, we were on our plane to Milan. On landing we were met by Marco, a young Italian taxi driver, who sped us towards Virmercate. He revelled in having a passenger (not me) to discuss all things football, in particular, Leicester’s underdog status when winning the Premier League in 2016 with the Italian manager Claudio Ranieri. Oh yes, and he was very rude about women drivers …

We arrived at the Festival hub to meet our hosts Marta and Anna. We were given the key to the apartment and let loose on Vimercate equipped only with a map and my awkward Italian.  

The Vimerate Dei Ragazzi is an outdoor family festival of theatre, workshops, talks – Christopher delivered one about accessible theatre – and a parade through Vimercate’s medieval cobbled streets.

The first show we saw was Artevox’s Secret Garden, a charming immersive sensory theatre piece in a small gazebo in a park designed for autistic adults. The main character had pictures of the attendees on their oversized jacket and made amazing connections with the audience.  

We saw an exquisite piece of marionette theatre called VARIATIONS by the Filippo Marionette Company and an amazing piece of storytelling from a company who were originally from Burkina Faso. 

Hansel and Gretel by Campsirago Residenza – who would be our hosts the following week – was set in a park. The audience were given pendants of a wire cage containing a tiny heart to put round our neck. We were invited to follow the Magpie character and a trail of white stones through woodlands, wearing headphones through which you heard music and narration. Despite not understanding Italian, we became immersed in a different world discovering strange characters and quirky installations.  In the final scene we all stood in a circle around a woodburner as our heart pendants were collected from us and given to the flames of the fire! It was then we realised that we were all Hansel and Gretel in the story.

On Monday we travelled 30 miles up steep mountain switchback roads, that would challenge the most intrepid cyclists, to the wooded pre Alps and Campsirago Residenza.   

For the next five days we followed steep paths to a pre-historic stone monument, recorded the sounds of the forest, walked in silence, watched fireflies dancing in the woods, explored streams and immersed ourselves in the rich sensory landscape of the ancient woodlands. We shared the Bamboozle ethos and the approaches to working outdoors with autistic children and young people.   

Later this month, the Italian companies are coming to Leicester for a week, where we will continue to explore the possibilities of working outdoors with autistic children. We will be based in the woodland at Stoughton Grange and have invited autistic children and their families to help us develop the ideas for this new piece of theatre.

With applications currently open for our Project Manager (Families & Community) job, we thought we’d ask our Associate Director Sue Pyecroft to share some thoughts about working on family projects.
Read below as Sue talks about our Backyard project which is currently booking for our Spring Sessions.

As I walk to the Backyard site this morning, with the sun shining and birds singing, my spirits lift in anticipation of spring. 

At the wildlife plot on Rowley Fields allotment site, the pond is full to bursting, the trees in bud and the materials to mend the roof of the cabin are stacked expectantly. 

This is the Backyard: an oasis of calm and creativity, where autistic children and their families take part in sessions every spring, summer and autumn. 

Since piloting the Backyard project during Covid, the number of families we work with has increased three fold, and we expect even more families to sign up this year! 

This is one of a number of creative,  interactive projects that we are setting up this year for neurodiverse and severely disabled children and young people. 

It is busy at HQ…. recruiting and contracting artists, finding and booking accessible venues, connecting with families and other organisations in the field. We want to make sure that our families get the best of creative and dynamic experiences with Bamboozle. 

It is rewarding to feel that the work we do now will mean that our families will have the opportunity to meet with other families,  make magical memories with their children, and be able to relax in a safe space where everybody feels accepted and respected.  

I can’t wait to see the smiles and hear the laughter in amongst the trees this Easter as another year unfolds. Will you join me? 

If you’d be interested in working with Bamboozle as our new Families & Community Project Manager, you can find out more and download our recruitment pack here.

Photos by Darren Staples.

The Summer School 2023 group photo.

This July, we hosted our first ever Summer School for practitioners at Curve Theatre in Leicester. We were joined by 12 freelance artists, actors, directors, dancers, theatre makers and facilitators from across the World. This was the most international group we think has ever attended a Bamboozle training week with participants travelling from Australia, the USA, Italy, Sweden, Ireland, South Africa and Newcastle!

Participant Liliana Dalton, whose mum had attended one of our courses in Melbourne, described the experience as “An open, thoughtful, informative and collaborative week. The knowledge shared by Bamboozle was very thorough and generous and it was so wonderful to meet passionate people from around the world.”

During the week, the practitioners were given a whistle stop tour through the fundamental principles of the Bamboozle Approach and how we seek to build connections with young people and enable them to access our work. Led by our Artistic Director Christopher Davies, our Associate Director of Education & Training Nicole Arkless and freelance artist and composer Craig Bryne, the participants were led through the process of creating two shows for two different audiences.

A photo taken during rehearsals as Christopher Davies talks the group through the session.

Nicole Arkless commented: “It was humbling to meet so many people who’d come from all over the world to take part – there were some with a vast amount of experience and some who are starting out on their sensory theatre making journey. The range of experience levels and the variety of different practice disciplines made for a productive working environment where everyone could share ideas and learn from each other. Spending a whole week together allowed us to fully immersive ourselves in the theatre making process as well as explore in depth the necessary considerations of creating an accessible performance that has the audience at its centre.”

The group explored the importance of music and settings and used workshops, ritual and free exploratory play as inspiration for creating these two new theatrical pieces – one for audiences on the autistic spectrum and one for audiences who are sometimes described as having profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) or complex needs. At the end of the week, some of our families were invited to watch these 20 minute sharings and to meet the performers afterwards. The two pieces were full of Bamboozle methodology, brand new songs, puppets and set and costume pieces from both Bamboozle and Curve’s stores.

A group meal out to local favourite Herb on the penultimate night of the week!

Gloria Minnich, from the USA, told us she’d describe her time with us as “an incredible week filled with learning and camaraderie. A safe, welcoming environment where I felt at ease sharing and taking risks. It is an experience I’ll remember for a lifetime and I’m so excited to see where I’m going to take this information and put it into practice.”

We’d like to say a big thank you to all the practitioners who joined us and we can’t wait to hear about what they’re creating in the future. If this Summer School interests you, we’ll be looking to book in dates for 2024 soon! You can also find out more about our training courses currently booking for the rest of 2023 and the start of 2024 here including our Masterclass 2024 which will also be running at Curve Theatre in January.

 

Bamboozle is marking National Children’s Day by celebrating the disabled children and their families that the company works with.

The United Nations’ NCD is celebrated in the UK on 14 May and recognises of the importance of children and young people and how their rights, freedoms and wellbeing all need to be protected in order for them to grow into happy, healthy adults. 

Sue Pyecroft, Bamboozle’s co-founder and Associate Director of Families and Community said: “Today we are celebrating the community of disabled and autistic young people and their families who have been coming to our Backyard in Rowley Fields Allotments for the last three years. Prompted by Covid restrictions we moved our offer for autistic children outside and it has proved an inspired move. Being in nature is hugely beneficial to all of us but particularly those autistic children. It takes a considerable effort to bring autistic children to somewhere new but the results have been amazing. Huge thanks to the National Lottery and all those who buy tickets for helping us secure Backyard and other activities for the next five years.” 

Kayleigh, who brings her son to Backyard, says this about their experiences:   

The last few months have been some of the most stressful, anxious times, so to have this little escape from reality right now is fantastic. I love that every time we come here, it always feels like we belong, without judgement, it feels easy. This is the one place that I feel Harlem can truly be himself without fear, without the need to be anything other than his true authentic self. As always thank you for bringing a little magic to our lives, for really making a difference.  We’re so grateful every time we get to experience Backyard. 

The National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund has awarded Bamboozle five years of funding to support their programme. 

Bamboozle’s programme, which will reach 60 Leicester and Leicestershire families each year, has four strands: 

  • The Backyard – an outdoor provision for autistic children and their families 
  • Family days – where families can meet and share experiences 
  • Skill share at home – where a Bamboozle facilitator works with families to support them in their own homes 
  • Voices – a research project into how learning-disabled children can have their voices heard

We can’t wait to start delivering this exciting new programme of work and reach more families. Keep an eye on our website and social media to keep up to date with these sessions.

We are delighted to once again join the line up for Wild Rumpus’ Timber Festival, located in Feanedock, The National Forest, running 7 – 9th July 2024.

Bamboozle are taking two performances – a special “festival” version of Down to Earth and our Backyard – to this year’s festival. We want to say a huge thank you to The National Forest who have funded Bamboozle to enable more people in the National Forest area to access our work.

Alongside attending the festival, we will also be delivering sessions in schools across the National Forest area and reaching families who haven’t experienced Bamboozle’s work previously.

Wild Rumpus – Timber’s organisers – want to make the festival accessible for families with disabled children. They are providing complimentary tickets for families registered with Bamboozle to help open up the festival experience to those who may have felt festivals weren’t for their families previously. You can find out more about Timber Festival’s accessibility here.

“We never thought attending a festival like this would be an option to us. It had its challenges, but we overcame them all and came home with so many amazing memories. Thank you so very, very much!”

Parent from Timber Festival 2022

If you are a family with a disabled child and would like to experience Bamboozle’s offer at Timber Festival this year – email kit@bamboozletheatre.co.uk by 26th May to secure your FREE weekend tickets.

Thank you Wild Rumpus, Timber Festival and The National Forest for making this experience possible.

 

Bamboozle has some exciting training projects and opportunities planned over the next three years, so our Artistic Director Christopher Davies thought there was no better time to begin our upskilling programme for Bamboozle artists to deliver training. 

Photo: An art gallery created from a session with Ashmount School students

With training and support from Education Co-Ordinator Nicole Arkless, this team of artists has been working on an education project with staff and students at Ashmount School in Loughborough. They worked with six groups over a three month period and explored a variety of creative scenarios alongside the behavioural and linguistic strategies that make up the Bamboozle Approach.

As well as offering training to Ashmount staff the project was specially designed to give the artists an opportunity to deepen their knowledge and experience of Bamboozle’s education work. The project has enabled Bamboozle to expand its education and training delivery team in order to meet the rising demand for its education programmes and training courses. It will also help us achieve our plans to create a network of training hubs in schools in Arts Council priority areas.

Over the next three years, we will be training school staff and local artists in the Bamboozle Approach – the training delivery team will be instrumental in ensuring a legacy impact for children and young people in those areas.

You may recognise the four team members who will be delivering training for us – Dawn Bowden, Craig Byrne, Kayleigh Cottam and Amy Lovelock – as they’ve worked with Bamboozle for many years. We can’t wait to see them leading projects in the future.

Taylor Hobson, a Leicester company making ultra-precision technology, have made a hugely generous impact on our fundraising total for the year, by donating an astonishing £25,559 raised through their payroll giving scheme and other fundraising activities.

Taylor Hobson first donated to Bamboozle back in 2017, when Jain Burdett, the company’s Special Applications Project Leader, got in touch to let us know that we’d been selected as the beneficiary of the company’s payroll giving scheme. We were delighted!

Jain found out about Bamboozle when researching local charities to support; “when we speak to our members who donate through the payroll giving scheme, they are always keen for donations to support local charities who make a difference to the lives of children and young people”.

Since the start of our relationship with Taylor Hobson, we have benefitted from both donations and volunteer days. In 2022, we were lucky enough to receive design support for our Gala and the staff from Taylor Hobson kindly donated their time and expertise to renovate our Backyard site. This work has helped enhance the experience for our families with a safer, more accessible cabin and surrounding area.

This most recent donation brings the total donated by the company over the past five years to an amazing £40,086!

We’d like to send a huge thank you to all of the team at Taylor Hobson for making this generous donation and for all their support over the years.

Inspired by Taylor Hobson’s gift? Find out more about how you can support Bamboozle.

This morning, Bamboozle were delighted to be announced as one of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio of companies to receive national funding.

Peter Knott, Area Director for Arts Council England said: “By producing and touring multi-sensory theatrical experiences for learning disabled children and young people, Bamboozle Theatre Company makes great art and culture available to a wider audience. We’re delighted to be increasing our investment in them to continue their work touring nationally and internationally to schools, theatres and festivals over the next three years.”

Bamboozle has been working with Leicester/shire families and schools since 1994 and has toured shows to theatres, schools and festivals throughout the UK and internationally to five continents.

Co-founder and Artistic Director Christopher Davies said: “We are delighted to receive support from Arts Council to help our work continue. This grant gives us a welcome measure of security which we can build on and raise funds locally to enable us to continue to provide opportunities for Leicester and Leicestershire families. It is so important that the audience we serve gets access to the arts. It raises self-esteem and gives young people a sense of worth and enjoyment. At Bamboozle we are very lucky to work with a remarkable team: talented freelance actors and facilitators, a hard-working office team and a committed board of Trustees all of whom enable the highest standard of work to be made for our audience. The importance of the work is frequently brought home to us when parents tell us the impact it has on their disabled child and the whole family who often feel isolated.”

During the Covid restrictions Bamboozle created socially distanced outdoor activities so that they could maintain contact with families. Musicians performed in people’s front gardens, Firebird an open-air show with a 5m wingspan puppet toured schools and the Timber Festival and Backyard was created for children on the autism spectrum.

Kayleigh Rodgers who brought her son to Backyard this summer said:

“Imagine there was a place you could go without the fear of being judged and no disapproving glares. Where children can truly be themselves, not worrying what anyone else thinks. It sounds magical doesn’t it! Well that’s what Bamboozle Backyard is, absolutely magical.”

We were delighted to host our fundraising Gala dinner and charity auction on Saturday 25th of June after two years of postponement due to the pandemic. We returned to The City Rooms, a beautiful venue in the centre of Leicester, and welcomed 140 guests including long-term supporters to local businesses.

Our theme for the night was ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. The Bamboozle team decorated the venue in greens and purples, using leaves and flowers, wreaths of ivy and lots of pompoms! Enter Edem provided a fantastic walkabout performance with the classic characters Titania and Bottom, Oberon and Puck, who entertained guests with circus skills, magic and comedy. The Bamboozle Babes also performed a beautiful medley of songs arranged especially for the night by Bamboozle artist and internationally renowned soprano Amy Whittle.

We also heard two very moving speeches from Bamboozle parents, Tess Rushin and Andrea Farnish. We were delighted to also welcome Poppy, Tess’ daughter, who has been attending Bamboozle’s sessions since the age of 4, (and is now 16!). We’re hugely grateful to Tess, Poppy and Andrea for sharing their Bamboozle journeys with our guests, which conveyed the life-changing impact that our experiences have for the whole family.

Our live auction was another highlight of the evening, where the bidding on an array of fantastic prizes was filled with excitement. Most sort-after prizes included stunning art donated by Leicester artist Paul Wright, an original sketch by Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park, and a unique singing experience from Amy Whittle. The grand total raised from the evening was an astonishing £16,900.

Thank you so much to our guests, Bamboozle families, and our team of staff and volunteers for an unforgettable evening which goes a long way in helping Bamboozle continue delivering our immersive theatre experiences for learning disabled children and their families.

Unit 10 St Mary's Works | 115 Burnmoor Street | Leicester LE2 7JL | 0116 255 2065
Registered Charity Number: 1136157 | Registered in England and Wales.
Company No. 7193792