Laughter could be just the tonic for Welsh communities thanks to BIG funding

Area:

Wales

Programme:

Awards for All Wales

Release date:

30 4 2013

They say that laughter is the best medicine and the emotional and physical benefits of laughter have been well documented.  

That’s why the Feelgood Communities CIC group is among the 65 community-based projects across Wales to share in nearly £240,000 awarded under the latest round of the Awards for All small grants programme (Full list of projects available at the end of release and full project descriptions available here).

Feelgood Communities CIC will use their award of £5,000 to launch the first ever Wales National Laughter Day (12th June 2013) - a project to promote laughter throughout the country. The aim of the project is to provide wellbeing and laughter activities to improve the mental and general health of communities www.feelgoodcommunities.com and https://www.facebook.com/laugh4wales .
   
The group will provide sessions based on games which encourage laughing and self awareness and include time for discussions and group interaction. The sessions are based on the fact that laughter is proven to relax the whole body, boost the immune system, triggers the release of endorphins and protects the heart. This is particularly beneficial to people with mental health problems, carers and disabled people who often live in stressful circumstances. The sessions will bring people together from a wide range of backgrounds to learn ways of easing stress which enables them to cope better. 

The group will work to recruit volunteers who will run laughter sessions after the first Wales National Laughter Day is held. They will also consult with local community organisations and hold sessions to show people in Wales how they can use laughter to improve their health and happiness.  The long term aim is to establish and run laughter clubs across Wales. The clubs will enable people to learn new skills and mechanisms for dealing with stress and difficult situations, increase their self confidence and ability to express emotions, improve social skills and help them increase awareness and understanding of themselves and others. 

Highlighting the importance of the project, Mr Robin Graham, a Director and Laughter Specialist at Feelgood Communities, said: “We have been developing our laughter-related work since 1998, mixing a scientific approach and analysis with contemporary creative ideas.  We have brought our laughter skills to businesses, local authorities, education establishments, health related and other organisations in the UK and other countries, as well as sharing ideas through theatre based performance.”

Robin, who has an MA in Health and Happiness Awareness, added: “Just by laughing, we can improve our health and our happiness and better manage stress. This is simply because our physiology changes when we laugh. Laughing helps us rebalance ourselves. It helps us to be healthier and relaxed by decreasing stress hormones, increasing antibodies to fight infections, lowering blood pressure, releasing endorphins which give us the ‘feel good factor’ and improving respiration and circulation. It’s also a shared experience that creates a good memory.”

Other grants awarded highlight the diversity of what can be funded through the Awards for All programme. The Anaphylaxis Campaign will use their grant of £1,071 to deliver an interactive workshop in Cardiff for young people aged 11 - 18 with severe allergies, whilst Cylch Meithrin Cwrt Henri in Carmarthenshire will run a project called `Cymraeg i’r teulu’ which will allow parents to develop their Welsh language skills with their children.

And it’s playtime in North Wales thanks to the latest awards. Cylch Meithrin Porthmadog in Gwynedd will spend their award of £5,000 on educational resources and toys including outdoor play equipment for children. And in Rhosllannerchrugog, Wrexham, Canolfan Ceiriog Centre CYF will also spend their award of £3,436 on developing an outdoor play area to provide a safe and stimulating space for children attending the Cylch.

In an intergenerational project, Arts Alive in Crickhowell, Powys, will spend £5,000 on bringing together older people living in sheltered housing and young people at a homeless shelter to create art works exploring themes of housing and homelessness. And last but not least Swallow Laryngectomy Club in Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf will use their £1,560 to arrange social outings for their members who are recovering from throat cancer to enable them to adapt to their condition and improve their speech.

Gareth Williams, Awards for All Programme Manager for BIG in Wales, said: “Awards for All is having a positive impact throughout Wales. Money is helping to establish groups, societies and clubs, promoting learning, increasing volunteering opportunities and helping to build stronger communities.”      

Available in English and Welsh, application forms are available to download from www.awardsforall.org.uk or by phone on 0845 4 10 20 30.

A full list of awards (with full descriptions)

Notes to Editors
• In Wales, the Big Lottery Fund is rolling out close to £100,000 a day in National Lottery good cause money, which together with other Lottery distributors means that across Wales most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project.
• The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004. It was established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to Good Causes. As a result, over £29 billion has now been raised and more than 383,000 grants given out across the arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.

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