Leukemia Weekends 1989 – present
Twice a year children in treatment from the Royal Devon & Exeter & Plymouth Derriford Hospitals, along with siblings & other family members make the journey to remote North Devon for a wild weekend of creativity & adventure provided by Wolf + Water.
Each weekend is especially designed in consultation with CLIC Sargent Social Workers & Consultant Psychologists to address the pertinent issues for each particular group – it might be grief, physical changes due to treatment, fear, being “different” because of being ill, or coming to terms with the fact that in many ways, life will never be the same again.
So the children might well be met by an elderly Sherlock Holmes who is struggling to cope with the gradual failing of his legendary powers, or Albert Mumblebore, Head of Dogwarts Comprehensive school of Witchcraft & Wizardry who is facing an inspection by the Ministry of Magic because for some reason magic has stopped working in the school…but whatever the scenario, it is designed to gently reflect some of the dilemmas that the children themselves face through their illness.
All ways great fun, intensely moving & utterly exhausting, the weekends both allow for very ill young people just to be children again, provide opportunities of a different type of involvement (or respite) for parents &, with drama, music, film, art, puppetry, pottery, making things & dance, are solid good creative fun.
A couple of specific leukemia weekends from over the years are detailed below & you can watch clips about the process from our “Running with the Pack” film.
“Doctor who?!” weekends – 2006
The children were invited by RATTPOO (Research Into Alien Time Travel Project Organisation Operation – who appear to be a UFO contact group investigating paranormal activity in the area. RATTPOO is though a cover for the plans of Doctor Yes, who is secretly very ill & has plotted to steal Doctor Who’s TARDIS, not only so he can go back in time again & feel well, but to be reunited with his long dead wife. The children helped the stranded Doctor once his TARDIS was stolen & uncovered Doctor Yes’s deceit, & then help him to face the challenges of both the past & the future…
“exactly what I have come to expect from Wolf+ Water, barking, but bl…..dy marvellous!”
malcolm sargent social worker
Dogwarts Comprehensive School of Witchcraft & Wizardry - 2004
This year the young people aged from five to fourteen found themselves enrolled at Dogwarts School of Witchcraft (the comprehensive version of Hogwarts) in which the Headmaster, Professor Mumblebore is facing a problem – magic no longer seems to be working in the school (not even David Blaine nor Derren Brown who’ve also arrived for the course seem to be able to do anything..) & with an imminent inspection from the Ministry of Magic, is closure inevitable…?
Over the course of the weekend, using drama, music, puppets, video, painting, mask making & sculpture the young people managed to create a convincing recreation of magic to save the school, but were also through the themes of loss of power, dealing with decline & yet retaining hope, were able to explore some of the pertinent issues around their own situations.
“…just wanted to say thanks to all involved in the weekend for making it a quite remarkable experience.”
participant“…very successful…. The children all got very engrossed… the ending around loss and moving on was very powerful and a really excellent twist.”
Malcolm Sargent Social Worker
“Xplore 2000” – 2000
explored what happens between siblings when one of them contracts a life threatening illness. Obviously family life is turned upside down as regular routines go out of the window due to treatment. The sick child understandibly becomes the focus of attention & well siblings can often feel left out & overlooked. On this weekend the children & families discover a man who has lost his memory. Using a variety of ingenuious arts activities to discover what has happened, the group realised that the man is…or was…really quite a special person. They also discover that is the man’s always overlooked brother who has stolen the memories because, he brother say, he wanted some good memories for his own. The weekend developed in exploring the complex sibling rivalry between the two characters & how they could help the overlooked brother feel more valued & generate some happy memories of his own.
“The CRAP Weekend” - 1999
On arrival the children & their families were greeted by the strange site of a hippy encampment spreading accross the Beaford Centre gardens. This is the temporary home of CRAP (the Campaign for the Return of Abba & Peace), a strange but harmless cult believing that world peace will occur only when the 70’s Swedish Supergroup Abba are returned to earth by aliens who they believe have abducted them! In fact some strange aliens do actually arrive in human form, but gradually become more & more ill as they cannot survive in the human atmosphere. The task of the weekend becomes how to save these aliens & return them to their home - which explored on a fantastic level what conditions, physical, pyschological & “spiritual” are inherent in fighting a potentially life threatening disease & hopefully eventually embarking on the road to recovery, & how to cope when sometimes, sadly, that journey is not completed.
“One father to whom the whole weekend was initially a completely alien experience & not “his thing” at all, was extremely pleased that he had done it & was quite amazed at himself & hopes that his family is included again”
Social Worker
