Long Covid Superheroes is a project for young people with Long Covid run by facilitators with Long Covid in partnership with Long Covid Kids. It’s a theatre and comic book project that celebrates the resilience of young people with Long Covid, asking them, “What’s your Superpower?”
During this year long project, participants will be invited to create their own superhero alter-ego, and work with our designer to co-create a costume. Using drama techniques, we will then collectively create a story that will be handed over to one of our award winning illustrators and turned into a comic book. The project will culminate in a final event to launch the comic book and showcase the superhero costumes.
Sessions will be trauma informed, covid-risk assessed, and tailored specifically to the needs of young people with Long Covid. We will have 1-2-1 online sessions before the project with young people and your parent/carers to establish where you’re at and what you need from us access wise. Those who are bedbound or housebound will be able to join our online sessions from bed. We will provide beanbags and yoga mats for in-person sessions so you can choose to sit or lie-down. All sessions will be no more than an hour long and will include active rest breaks, nervous system support, breathwork, gentle movement and bite-sized creative exercises.
All sessions begin in September 2025
Online sessions: Fully Booked. You are welcome to apply and be added to our Waiting List
In-person sessions: On Mondays at Longfield Hall (times tbc)
**N.B. We are aware that the ‘superhero’ trope can often be used in a patronising and ableist way to pose achievements from the disabled community as ‘inspirational’ and to suggest we can simply ‘overcome’ our disability without the need for external support and adaptations. Our aim is to invert the usual superhero tropes, and to highlight the strength in the stillness, the quiet, the pause; the ability to accept and to ask for help; the ability to listen to our bodies and say no to the demands made by an ableist society; the ability to advocate for ourselves and the disabled community. We invite the young people to celebrate their new identity as chronically ill, and to find ways to cope with the struggles and find the peace. After all, rest is radical.
Artistic Director/Lead Facilitator: Louise Dickinson
Wellbeing Officer: Kate Lawrence-Lunniss
Support Facilitator and Movement Lead: Lucy Clark
Costume Designer: Kelli Des Jarlais
Illustrators: Zhenyi Zheng
Our staff are Enhanced DBS checked and are experienced in making accessible theatre and art with young people professionally.
To apply please complete the expression of interest form
This project is funded by Arts Council England and is free of cost. We are actively seeking applications from young people from the global majority and those from low-socio economic backgrounds. Our sessions aim to be inclusive and we have some capacity for supporting young people with additional needs. Please get in touch with any questions.
Access Guide
Please email us to book a space on our Q&A.
Louise Dickinson (she/her)
Lead Facilitator and Artistic Director
Louise is passionate about the impact the arts can have on wellbeing. She has 15yrs of experience working as a youth and applied theatre facilitator. She has an MA in Applied Theatre from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and has five years experience as the Blue Elephant Young People’s Theatre Director & Participation Manager. Louise has been living with Long Covid since 2020 and spent two years bed bound and using a wheelchair. She will be bringing her understanding of the illness into the design of the project. She has training in Trauma Sensitive Performance and Theatre Making, and Professional Training in the Applied use of Mindfulness for Young People from the British Mindfulness Institute. Louise is also an Associate Artist at Mouths of Lions where she devises and performs in story-based character clown shows for children and adults.
Testimonial:
“Louise is a mindful and warm facilitator who confidently facilitated a safespace from the moment the participants entered the room and effortlessly drew total strangers together to work as a team. Louise is a fun and energetic facilitator, who can make the most anxious of participants feel at ease.”
Georgia Bowers, Programme Leader in Applied & Contemporary Theatre at the Guilford School of Acting
Kate Lawrence-Lunniss (they/them)
Wellbeing Officer
Kate is our Safeguarding, First Aid and Mental Health First Aid Lead. They are passionate about accessibility, diversity and inclusion in the arts and currently work as a Freelance Access Support Worker for artists with ADHD and Autism. They have five years experience as Community Manager at The Old Vic running and creating programmes to support mental health and wellbeing, including the Long Covid Wellness Project.
Testimonial:
“Kate’s understanding of the condition is brilliant. For us all to feel welcomed enough to get there and then be brought together. They were the only point that we all knew so Kate being in the room every day, that presence was a really helpful facet for us all to be able to be here. They’re our point of bonding. A very gentle way and calming force, that allowed us to feel safe to be able to say we are actually not doing very well, really, because that’s the ultimate of this, isn’t it? Admitting where we’re at.”
Participant from Old Vic Long Covid Project
Lucy Clark (she/her)
Support Facilitator and Movement Lead
Lucy Clark is a disabled dance artist and choreographer driven to champion disabled voices through producing accessible and meaningful dance theatre works which effortlessly interweave science, social issues and movement. She has experience of supporting young people from diverse backgrounds with additional needs with Vincent Dance Theatre and South East Dance. She has trained with Stopgap Dance Company in 'Delivery Adaptation' and 'Creating Accessible Events' and Ferus Animi//Terra Nova learning how to combine mindfulness and breathing techniques with movement. Lucy is an advocate for those with hidden disabilities and continues to use her work to initiate conversations that usually remain unspoken.
Testimonial:
Lucy diligently and sensitively assists Propel participants with varying learning styles and support needs. Lucy works predominantly 1:1 with an autistic young person to support them in fully engaging with the class, finding approaches and communication that best suits their needs. She is aware of when the young person needs time out to self-regulate.
Sarah Kearney, South East Dance
