National Theatre of Scotland and NHS Lothian Charity: Tonic Arts present
Trolleydarity
Scratch n Sniff Staycation for the Discerning Static Traveller
At Western General Hospital, Edinburgh; St John’s Hospital, Livingston; and East Lothian Community Hospital, Haddington
December 2025 to March 2026
Co-curated by Alan Grieve and Shona Reppe
Designer – Danny Krass
Facilitators for St John’s Hospital and East Lothian Community Hospital – Minnie Crook and Dan Brown
Supported by: The Weir Charitable Trust and The William Grant Foundation
Trolleydarity’s Scratch n Sniff Staycation for the Discerning Static Traveller is an innovative new project by artists Shona Reppe and Alan Grieve co-curated for patients and staff across NHS Lothian presented by National Theatre of Scotland and NHS Lothian Charity: Tonic Arts.
Shona and Alan will present Scratch n Sniff Staycation for the Discerning Static Traveller across Western General Hospital wards with Minnie Crook and Dan Brown facilitating the Staycation in St John’s Hospital, Livingston and East Lothian Community Hospital, Haddington, from December 2025 to March 2026.
Scratch n Sniff Staycation for the Discerning Static Traveller is a series of artistic one-to -one encounters with hospital patients, visitors and staff presented by Shona and Alan (Trolleydarity.) These unique and surprising interventions will offer discerning travellers an opportunity to explore the world in a way that feels both real and magical, through the power of sound and scent. Participants will be transported on a journey without having to catch a plane or even leave their beds.
Shona Reppe and Alan Grieve’s Trolleydarity’s “immersive sensory micro adventure” will be brought to hospital bedsides, wards and waiting areas by trolley; all that will be required to explore the world is a pair of headphones and a complimentary postcard.
This brand new project transforms the everyday into the extraordinary, from the scent of a luxurious spa to the sound of crisp snow underfoot, all brought to life through the magic of sound and smell. Participants are invited to stay where they are, close their eyes, scratch, sniff and go!
This project is part of an ongoing partnership between National Theatre of Scotland and NHS Lothian Charity: Tonic Arts, the Charity’s arts in health programme which improves and supports the health and wellbeing of NHS Lothian patients and staff.
It follows on from an existing collaboration on the hosting of Portraits of an LGBTI+ Generation exhibition, at the Charity’s Tonic Galleries in both St John’s Hospital Livingston and the Western General Hospital.
Len McCaffer, NHS Lothian Charity’s Tonic Arts Manager: “We are thrilled to be partnering with the National Theatre of Scotland to bring these magical sensory adventures to patients in hospital – for the patients themselves, it gives them a gentle escape during their hospital stay and for staff, it provides a joyful shared moment to brighten a long shift.
“”Trolleydarity reminds us that care is more than clinical — it’s sensory, human and about making connections. And this is exactly what our Tonic Arts programme is all about.”
