I'm still Peanut the Clown! And I'm still empowering children. My 1989 Fellowship was for researching European Community Circus Schools. We travelled across Europe for over six months visiting circuses, circus schools and many other organisations. We brought back this experience and founded the Leeds Children's Circus (LCC) – a circus school for children – in Chapeltown, Leeds, where I live. This was effectively the beginning of my career as a circus clown and community artist (and as a parent – my partner was pregnant with our first child on the tour of Europe). So I have a great deal to thank the Fellowship for.

The LCC is still going strong over 30 years later and has developed into a performing arts charity with a focus on building community cohesion in inner city Leeds. I have travelled all over the world performing and teaching, appeared on TV many times and have many fascinating projects, tours and performances to look back on. I have met Royalty on four occasions and have performed for over a quarter of a million children. In a sense I have never stopped being 'on tour'. Long may it continue!