Our work across the UK

In the UK, we bring smile support to children in hospices, hospitals, shelters and refuges, and visit food banks, disability support groups, community centres and toddler groups. We also share play and laughter with young people who are seeking asylum, to help them start to rebuild safe and happy childhoods.

Emergency smile support

Across the UK, our teams of trained play professionals and smile specialists support children who are experiencing crises or severe hardships.

Throughout the year, we work in hospices, hospitals, refuges for women and children, temporary accommodation housing children who are seeking asylum, and pupil referral units for young people who’ve been excluded from mainstream education.

School holiday play projects

During the school holidays, we put on free play workshops and circus shows at community centres, disability support groups, food banks, and toddler groups.

Over the Christmas holidays, we deliver these sessions with a seasonal twist, to make sure everyone we meet enjoys a memorable family outing at this special time of the year.

Sensory Circus

In the UK, we also deliver Sensory Circus sessions in hospices and at schools and groups for young people with disabilities.

Sensory Circus uses small, participant-led shows and play sessions, based around sensory storytelling, games and exploration, and featuring lots of one-to-one interaction between the children and our smile specialists.

This approach is all about making sure that every child gets to play, laugh and use their imagination in the ways that they like best.

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The difference it makes …

Thank you so much visiting The Family Centre (Deaf Children), the children and the grown-ups had a lovely morning. From the minute you arrived you were cracking jokes and putting the children at ease from the offset … Deaf children are at twice the risk of having emotional and behavioural difficulties than hearing children. Since the pandemic this number has increased to one in three. It was lovey to see the children taking part in the show, we were able to see the children’s confidence grow.

Helen Davies – Centre Manager, The Family Centre (Deaf Children), Bristol

Having the Seagull circus in our Monday play sessions is the highlight of our week. Mums and minis experience sheer joy and fun through singing and dancing and parachute play.

The difference is visible to see after a session with the circus. Mums are smiling and laughing, often going home humming or singing! Minis are out of their buggies, singing, dancing and running around.

It is utterly magical to watch as staff have a really light touch and playful approach to the sessions, and even reluctant mums or minis are joining in by the end. We know it’s needed as mums often ask “when the circus is coming back?”.

The more we work with you, the more we see engagement and participation from our families growing!

Hannah – Play Coordinator, The Magpie Project

All of the children and families were positively engaged but one particular family stood out. A Polish grandmother and her granddaughter arrived at the venue confused about what was happening. The grandmother didn’t speak any English so her five-year-old granddaughter translated that they had heard something was happening! They came to the session and had a great time. I noticed that the grandmother despite not speaking English was laughing out loud at various points and her granddaughter had a great time!

James Creed – Youth and Play Leader, Southmead Adventure Playground

“We just wanted to thank you again for a wonderful week of children’s activities. The children had a great time and I could see that it helped them in many ways.

“The banners are still up on the walls and we will add to them as the weeks go on. Please thank the rest of your team for their hard work, they were such good fun to be with.”

Family Liaison at a hotel housing displaced people seeking refuge

The Flying Seagull group were a fabulous addition to our family days. Ensuring our residents have quality contact with their families and children is so important in helping rehabilitate those in our care. The family days help build on these important relationships and give the children a chance to spend valuable time with their mums, aunts, sisters, grandparents, etc.

Some of the children stated in their feedback that the entertainment was their favourite activity of the day as they enjoyed joining in on the activities provided – the plate spinning was a highlight for most.

Katie Hyneman – CM for Reducing Reoffending, HMP Downview

The Flying Seagulls were fantastic! Beckie and Martha engaged the children throughout and they all had a fantastic time! Often, when we have visitors the children just want to run around and play with each other – not this time! They were all completely engrossed by the performance, it was wonderful to see.

Louise Bradley – Coordinator, Make Lunch Royston

“I don’t know about the children, but I had a lot of fun!”

Mother of a displaced child at one of the hotels we visited

“You make him happy. It has been a long time not happy and you make him happy.”

Mother of a displaced child at one of the hotels we visited

It was wonderful to have something to look forward to after such a hard year. The children were sat socially distanced but it felt like being at a “normal” show. It was lovely to see the young people get fully involved, they were very involved in the story telling and imaginative narrative. Flying Seagulls is a wonderful company … I was amazed at how the actors remembered all the young people’s names and all the things they mentioned during the show. It was great to see how they were able to adapt to what the young people had suggested and didn’t try to steer them in a particular direction. Everything was well thought out, entertaining and safely delivered. I thought everything went perfectly from beginning to end.

Denise Crawford – Club Coordinator, Between The Tracks

The Flying Seagull Project have continued to provide a vital service to our community over the short time we have been working together. Through their work, the Flying Seagull team have injected joy and fun into the lives of families and children who have suffered immensely throughout the pandemic. Families who have little or no access to public funds, whose lives have been stretched over the course of this last year.

The Flying Seagull Project provide vital respite to the children who have faced a year of confusion, anxiety and fear, reminding them that the magic of play and imagination can take us all away for a short while.

Georgia Wright – Brixton People’s Kitchen

Seeing the happy faces and hearing the cheering and laughing brought a feeling of lightness and hope that we’ve not seen for a long time. In fact, it brought a tear to my eye. The feedback we have received from our invited audiences has been glowing: “just what we needed,” “we never get invited to anything like this … thank you.”

And I know from my personal knowledge that one of our families is moving on with their lives following the darkest of times and the Seagulls brought them some sunshine. Thank you so much. We wish you could perform for us every day. The Flying Seagulls truly make the world a better place.

Lucie Murphy – The Bridge

Children who are very shy or have low self-esteem became very confident and engaged in the performance and appeared to find their voices!

Cary Lightfoot – Founder, Creative Kids UK

Somehow you found the last gem of childhood she had and made it shine. Seeing her laugh, play and just run carefree through a field has been magical. She’s gone to bed with a beaming smile, a button grasped in her hand and a full heart. Dreams are going to be of her “The Bedroom Seagull Project” where she plans to master storytelling, pirate antics and circus skills to keep passing on the joys of childhood.

Parent – CAFT Family Fun Fest

This is absolutely fantastic! More than we expected, and we can’t wait to show these videos to our young people! Thank you so much to all of you for this incredible effort and creative material. We are planning to run the first juggling session next week, on Zoom, using your videos.

Gloria Geretto – Youth Support Worker, Barnet Refugee Service

The Flying Seagulls’ visit, interactive performance, storyline and all-round fun made her feel something safe and calming to explore more of her play day.

Melissa Richards Bacchus – Child Development Lead, Flashpoint Centre

I could see that the children had so much fun, and not just them: their parents also joined in and enjoyed themselves. They told me at the end that they will show videos to the other people in the hotel because they loved it so much.

Katarina — volunteer, Care4Calais

Phenomenal, interactive, high-energy and just what we needed at the end of summer.

Parent – Loughborough Community Center at Max Roach

Thank you so much for a brilliant workshop! The families we work with experience holiday hunger and fewer opportunities to access activities for the children to participate in. It was a joy to see them all laughing and having fun both during the performance and then playing with the circus equipment afterwards. There was a real sense of achievement when they cracked how to spin a plate.

Mim Taylor – Coordinator, MakeLunch