U-Turn Community Projects

U-Turn has been fortunate enough to have had a number of cars donated to the program by RACT Insurance and members of the community. Generally, each course of participants will work on a vehicle for presentation to a victim or motor vehicle theft, or to a community organization.

One of the most creative projects to date involved the transformation of the Clown Doctor’s 1962 Hillman Deluxe into a distinctive yellow Clown Car to transport them to and from the Royal Hobart Hospital, and to act as a support vehicle for their fundraising walk across Tasmania in October 2005.

A series of photos was taken to track the project’s progress, culminating in the presentation of the Clown Car to Dr Fuss-Pot and Dr Do-Little at the graduation ceremony for the second intake of U-Turn participants in May 2005.

The Clown Doctor program is the core project of the Humour Foundation founded in 1997 by Dr Peter Spitzer, a GP, and Jean-Paul Bell, an entertainer. The program is well established in all Australian paediatric hospitals and some general hospitals. With the support of the staff of the Commonwealth Bank and Cadbury Schweppes, the program was launched at the Royal Hobart Hospital in October 2004.

The Clown Doctors parody the hospital routine and lighten the serious side of hospital by conducting ‘Clown Rounds’ that help sick children return to their world of fantasy and play.