Captain Starlight will this week return to Central Australia to improve the wellbeing of children living in regional and remote areas.

The Starlight Children’s Foundation Outreach program, led by Captain Starlight, helps enhance kids’ healthcare experiences, encouraging healthy living practices through entertainment and play.

Sporting a silver cape, Captain Starlights are professionally trained to break down cultural barriers and connect with kids to make fun, joy and laughter the order of the day. The highly-skilled professional performers draw on their talents of dance, music and art to help entertain kids in remote communities across the Northern Territory. Playing games, telling jokes, performing magic tricks, sharing stories and doing craft is all in a day’s work for the Captain Starlights, who partner with health professionals to ensure hospitalisation is more positive for kids and their families.

The Captain Starlights will visit young patients in Alice Springs Hospital on Thursday, reaching children on the paediatric ward and in the Emergency Department. On Tuesday and Wednesday the Captains will travel to Yuendumu with the Paediatric Outreach Team where they will entertain kids and their families waiting to see the medical team. Through performance, the Captains will also deliver positive healthcare promotion that helps to prevent illness and improve wellbeing.

Health professionals identify that Captain Starlight improves attendance at remote health clinics by up to 60 per cent.

In 2014 Captain Starlight reached about 6,500 kids and teenagers at the Royal Darwin Hospital. Starlight’s Outreach program reached a further 4,000 across 35 remote communities within the Northern Territory, requiring the Captains to travel over 60,000 kilometres on planes, cars and ferries.  

Media Opportunity: Meet Captain Starlight delivering fun, entertainment and laughter in the Paediatrics ward at Alice Springs Hospital at 1.30pm on Thursday.

Media Contact: Sharon Hutton 8951 5123 or 0401 114 113