CHILDREN in Oxford will be sad to hear that party clown Jenny White has hung up her red nose and giant shoes after 10 years.

But Jenny the Party Clown has quit the job for good reason – she wants to bring laughter to the lives of Oxford’s elderly and ill instead.

From 2001 Mrs White, from Garsington, entertained children at their birthday parties.

But a spell in hospital made her realise in 2008 that what she really wanted to do was to put a smile on the faces of those who needed it most.

She said: “I was always the entertainer in my large family, with five brothers and three sisters, so it came as no surprise to everyone that I became Jenny the Party Clown.”

The career decision was also popular with her son, Lee, now 19, who was 10 at the time.

Mrs White said: “One time Lee was in our local shop and he announced to a lady that his mum was a clown.

“She said ‘you can’t say that about your mother’, and he had to try hard to convince her that his mum really was a clown.”

But after the birth of her son, Mrs White discovered she had endometriosis, a condition affecting her ability to have more children.

She said: “This is just a horrible condition and in September 2008 after years of operations, I had to go into hospital for an emergency hysterectomy.

“It wasn’t straightforward and I lost a lot of blood and needed blood transfusions.”

It was this extended hospital visit that made her realise where people needed her help and humour the most.

She said: “My husband was working long hours and I didn’t like to keep asking friends and family for help.”

Mrs White realised they didn’t have the kind of home care she was looking for – the sort she could offer.

She said: “After thinking for a long time, I decided to end Jenny the Party Clown. My heart was in it for 10 years, but now after my hysterectomy I have found my heart is in caring.”

Mrs White recently launched Jenny’s Here to Help.

She visits the homes of people who require any kind of assistance, whenever they need it.

From making a sandwich and a cup of tea to light housework, she said she just loves to cheer people up, whatever their age.

She said: “Caring is support, encouragement, motivation, listening and laughing. I can be serious, but I love to make people smile and forget their troubles.

With one client, we had such a laugh with me singing and dancing with the mop.”

She said: “I feel very lucky to have done the jobs I love. Touch wood, the illness is all in the past now and my new exciting career is just blooming.”