Poland

Since 2018 we’ve put on

568

play sessions in Poland,

sharing more than

12,756

smiles with children in need.

Supporting young Ukrainian refugees

More than 2,000 orphaned and abandoned children were evacuated to institutions in Poland after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

We responded by launching our first project in Poland in October that year, to bring happiness and play relief to these children who’d had to face war and emergency evacuation without family support.

These kids are now facing a future filled with uncertainty, while they spend their childhoods in large institutions that the Polish government had previously been trying to replace with a modern foster care system.

Since October 2022 we’ve continued to organise two laughter missions to Poland each year, to make sure these orphaned and abandoned children keep getting the encouragement, comfort and support that large institutions cannot provide.

Supporting young people with disabilities

Many of the young Ukrainian refugees we’ve been supporting in Poland have disabilities or additional needs.

During our years working with these children, we’ve adapted our offer of circus, shows, music, magic and games, to emphasise accessibility and a participant-led approach. The result of these adaptations was the launch of our new Sensory Circus model in 2024.

In Sensory Circus we use bespoke equipment to create accessible play and imagination settings, where we work with small groups, putting on a rich offer of sensory activities, exploration and storytelling, with lots of one-to-one interaction between the participants and our smile-specialists.

As well as continuing our work in Poland with young Ukrainian refugees, we now also deliver Sensory Circus sessions in centres and schools for people with additional needs, and in institutions housing children with disabilities.