Captain Fantastic funded one of their professional entertainers, Maxine Newnes, to visit the children’s day care unit and inpatient ward at the start of April. Maxine dressed as Captain Fantastic to provide a couple of hours’ laughter and entertainment with fun bedside magic tricks, bubble machines and balloons with a little help from George: everyone’s favourite puppet monkey.
Maxine Newnes commented: “The kids were adorable and their parents joined in too!I t was great to see so many children animated, happy and engaged, and participating in the show. I thought it would be a humbling experience and it was but also so incredibly positive and wonderful to see how well everyone was being looked after by our amazing medical teams. I think the nurses also appreciated a little light hearted humour and fun as a small part of their busy day.
“I now have my photo on Lewisham Hospital’s ‘entertainers’ wall’. It really was an honour to perform for all of the children and I think George enjoyed it too!”
Miriam Willats, Health Play Specialist, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust commented: “Maxine was fantastic and brought so much joy and lots of laughs to the patients, parents, and our staff too. She was hilarious and made such a difference to the children's hospital stay. It was so lovely to see the pure joy on the children's faces! We are really grateful for the visit and would love to have her back some time.”
Captain Fantastic was originally set up in London in 2010 and was franchised in 2017. Each regional branch franchise is run by entertainers who are professionally trained, often with experience of performing on stages across the country. Captain Fantastic has been voted the UK's Number One children's entertainment company by the trusted reviewing site FreeIndex.
For Kids to carry on the adventure see: youtube.com/captainfantastickids
For actors and professional entertainers interested in exploring Captain Fantastic’s flexible franchise opportunities please see: captain-fantastic.co.uk/jointheteam/childrens-party-franchise/