ANIMAL SHELTER AGONDA
Animal Shelter Agonda is a charity situated in Goa, India. It’s primary goal is to help sick and mistreated animals and to give medical attention. They run a sterilization program to cut back on the growing population of cats and dogs, as well as a feeding program for beach dogs during the monsoon season. Since their inception, they have managed to change the views and attitudes of local people about feeding stray dogs and also educating them about the power of adoption. We loved the enthusiasm of the team from the outset; it was clear that they really wanted to make changes to their local surroundings and were genuinely passionate about changing the lives of the animals in their care.
Music in Hospitals & Care (MiHC) is made up of over 350 professional musicians, volunteers, trustees and core staff. The charity improves the health and wellbeing of children and adults through the healing power of live music, particularly for people with mental, physical and emotional ill health.
Every year, their professional musicians share live music with people from across the UK, who may not otherwise get to experience it. This includes those living with dementia, mental health problems, or who are seriously ill
When we were approached by MiHC we were really pleased to get involved as we know that music can have a profound affect on those most vulnerable. We worked with the charity to select a range of locations around the UK that showed the breadth of work that they were involved in. We wanted to make sure the film included a range of emotions from their audiences- loss, happiness and nostalgia.
OUR sANSAR
Our Sansar work in Province 2, the smallest yet most densely populated region of Nepal. Here there is a devastating lack of support and services for children suffering neglect, abuse and the dire effects of poverty.
The charity works closely with local communities, organisations and the government in Nepal to ensure projects are cost-effective and reach the maximum number of beneficiaries.
From our meetings with the charity, we learned about the work they did with both boys and girls homes, providing practical help, counselling, legal support and education. The sheer breadth of their work is staggering. It was for this reason that we decided to make two films for this charity so that they could best communicate their work.
UPBEAT COMMUNITIES
Upbeat Communities is a refugee support charity, based in Derby. The charity provide English classes, key local stakeholder information such as housing support, foodbanks and a welcoming place to meet other refugees. They wanted a film that reflected their positive and energetic branding. The charity worked hard to encourage lots of people from different cultures to participate.
We did not hesitate in supporting this project due to the current political debates regarding the UK’s immigration policy. The film works hard to try to eradicate the negative stereotypes of refugees.
CHILDRENS hEART fEDERATION
The Children’s Heart Federation (CHF) is the leading national charity championing children with heart conditions. CHF is dedicated in empowering these children, their families, and carers. The team at CHF were keen to present a positive, inspiring message that those living with heart defects, can continue living active lives today. We filmed this over two days at an adventure park where the children could take part in a range of activities such as archery, climbing etc. The biggest challenge we had was coordinating all the children and parents so that Adam, our filmmaker, knew who to interview and when. We absolutely love the interviews we captured and we think it really does communicate a heartfelt message that medical issues do not need to limit you.
SUMATRAN oRANGUTAN sOCIETY
We are delighted to share a brand new animation narrated by comedian and friend of SOS (Sumatran Orangutan Society) Bill Bailey. It brings to life what they do at Sumatran Orangutan Society and why it is so important for orangutans, for rainforests and for people. This project took months to plan, create and design, with many amazing team members involved between the animator, HelpFilm, Bill Bailey and SOS. We wanted to make sure that the animation to be rich in all senses, not just visual but also sound.
SREEPUR VILLAGE
The Sreepur Village, Bangladesh runs and funds a women and children’s village in rural Bangladesh. The Sreepur Village works with mothers (without male support) and their children to increase their chances of remaining a family, by taking a holistic, residential approach including livelihood and literacy training. The core belief being that poverty should not separate children from their family. Their work provides a huge range of services including safety, shelter, food and nutrition, adult literacy and education, comprehensive health care, livelihood and life skill training, child safeguarding and protection and social re integration. With this in mind, we really wanted to showcase the amazing work that the charity is involved in.
hOPE FOR cHILDREN
Hope 4 Children works across five countries: India, Sri Lanka, the UK, Uganda, and Kenya. Their work centres around education, health and wellbeing, and sustainable livelihoods.
Early on Hope 4 Children wanted to promote their work in Uganda as they felt it was the best showcase of what they have managed to achieve over the years. Therefore we decided to focus on one particular campaign which was their lights and literacy project, which allowed many families to access light after dark. The filmmaker wanted to capture key moments in everyday life where light was essential to the development and success of Ugandan families. We are really pleased with our end result as we managed to capture some great interviews with key project staff and families as well as capture the true heart of Namwongo and it’s community.
RESOURCES FOR AUTISM
Resources for Autism is a charity that provides support to families with autistic children, as well as autistic adults.They provide a range of activities in London and the Midlands, such as social groups, events, counselling, befriending and music therapy.
The charity were adamant that they wanted a film that promoted the inspirational work that they did with volunteers, as part of Volunteers week in June each year. With this in mind, we set about capturing the impact their volunteers make on their service users, organisation and the wider community. They wanted to showcase the range of activities that volunteers are a part of and also what they gift to the charity- their time, creativity, ideas and a different perspective, as well as patience and a desire to help.
Filmmaker Andrew Rutter was immediately identified as an excellent choice for this particular project as he has excellent people skills and an ability to make most people feel at ease. We absolutely love the footage that he captured and really think it celebrates the range of different people volunteering and making a real difference.
FOUNTAIN OF lIFE
Fountain of Life's mission is to bring affordable, sustainable, safe drinking water, improved hygiene and sanitation to those who have access to limited supplies because of poor infrastructure and finances. The charity focuses on the area of Senegal and provides education to communities about the importance of safe drinking water and health, the tippy taps that they have introduced (hands free hand washing equipment) as well as their low cost boreholes and hand pumps.
The charity approached HelpFilm wanting a film that promoted all aspects of their work. They were keen to include interviews with people who had benefitted the most from their work as well as showing visually how the equipment works. We are especially pleased with this film because it captures the sheer joy of finally having access to consistent and safe drinking water. Filmmaker Harrison has clearly presented the visual beauty of the surroundings and people from the Senegalese community.
SNAPS-YORKSHIRE
SNAPS is a local charity that supports children with additional needs and their families.
SNAPS started in Leeds in March 2004 as a parent led organisation and continues to involve parents at all levels. SNAPS identified an unmet demand for hydrotherapy, rebound therapy, swimming, and physical activity experiences, all of which can have such a positive impact on both children with additional needs and their families.
They wanted a film that they could send to prospective corporates about SNAPS and the benefit and impact of their work. Because their work involved such a wide range of activities, there was no shortage of footage. We feel the that the film really captures the positive and upbeat atmosphere as well as the fact that they offer a supportive space for families when they most need it.
KIDS INSPIRE
Kids Inspire is a children’s mental health charity. They provide holistic specialist mental health services to children, young people and their families affected by trauma or negative experiences.
Their core goals are to offer their service users:
Resilience
Greater self-awareness
The ability to self-regulate and to make more positive life choices.
The ability to reclaim their lives and to prevent the need for adult services in the future
Kids Inspire’s work with children and young people means that privacy and safeguarding is of the utmost importance. Therefore we were keen to investigate different ways of filming. We feel the end result clearly tells a strong narrative and a snapshot of the different therapies available, whilst also protecting their service users.
KISHARON
Kisharon offers education, opportunity and support for Jewish people with learning disabilities and their families throughout life’s journey – creating opportunities together to thrive, grow, learn and fulfil everyone’s unique potential. This was the first religious charity that we have worked with and we were keen to represent it positively and respectfully.
The people that Kisharon support are valued for their active roles in their community, and it was clear that the charity wanted to present an inclusive ethos.
HOSTAGE INTERNATIONAL
Hostage International is a unique charity delivering essential emotional and practical support to those affected by the kidnap or illegal detention of a loved one, and to hostages and detainees after their release.
As an international charity working in Australia, Canada and across Europe, we were keen to include a range of different voices and accents that reflects this. This project was very intense due to the sensitivity of their work- often the charity is working with people who cannot share that they are receiving support due to it threatening their detained loved one abroad. Therefore we had to make sure that a specific narrative is not identifiable.
Pistachio Studios were extremely patient and focused on making sure that the artwork reflected the right tone and message of the charity. For example the connotations of certain colours were considered as well as including a range of scenarios that the charity were involved in, making sure that all perspectives and experiences were covered. Because their work was diverse it meant that the script took a few edits to be completed, making sure it was concise, informative but also emotional.
Early artwork for Hostage International
INDEPENDENT CHOICES
We ended the year with this fantastic film for Independent Choices, coinciding with the launch of Greater Manchester Domestic Abuse Helpline, called ‘Behind Closed Doors’.
The film was screened at Manchester’s Curzon cinema, with a whole host of stakeholders in attendance, including Manchester’s Mayor, Donna Ludford. Feedback received from the event was overwhelmingly positive and we’re excited to get the film out and shared with as many people as possible.
Photos taken during the film launch of ‘Behind Closed Doors’, featuring Alan Walsh, Founder of HelpFilm with Manchester Mayor Donna Ludford and actors Caroline Chesworth and Dave Howell.
www.domesticabusehelpline.co.uk
STREET STORAGE
The appeal campaign called ‘Everyday’, for the homeless charity Street Storage, aimed to raise awareness of the growing number of people experiencing homelessness, and generate more funds so they can continue to provide their community with free, accessible and safe storage for their belongings.
London saw a 21% rise in people sleeping out between April and September of this year (Greater London Authority figures, October 2022). Every week Street Storage hear horror stories of people’s belongings being vandalised, burnt, stolen, urinated on or lost, making their need for supporting those who are homeless with their belongings, even greater.
With this in mind, they knew that a film would be ideal in raising awareness. They didn’t want live action at the very start of their journey with HelpFilm because of the sensitivity in filming those that are at at time in their lives when they are most vulnerable. Animation seemed like a natural choice and they were very decisive about the need for the art to be very simplistic.
““It’s rarely one reason that leads to becoming homeless and so your mind is already trying to cope with multiple things including anxiety, having no money, wondering where you might sleep. Worrying about whether your possessions, literally your lifeline, will be safe is another major concern. Street Storage is an incredibly practical solution with a hugely positive impact for the people it supports.”
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ACTION FOR RACE EQUALITY (ARE)
Action for Race Equality is a national charity working to end racial inequality. Since 1991, they have been challenging discrimination whilst pioneering solutions to empower young people and Black, Asian, Minority and mixed-heritage communities across education, employment, criminal justice and enterprise.
Through their criminal justice initiative EQUAL, they are campaigning to draw attention to the impact of a controversial policing tool called the Gangs Violence Matrix on young Black people and their families.
Their #ScrapTheMatrix campaign, builds on the work done by civil rights groups such as Tottenham Rights, Stopwatch and Amnesty International, as well as researchers such as Dr. Patrick Williams of Manchester Metropolitan University. It calls on the Metropolitan Police and the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, to listen to young Black people (80% of names on the Matrix) to truly understand the long lasting emotional, social and political consequences that over-policing and racial profiling is having.
To find out more about their campaign, see www.actionforraceequality.org.uk/gangs-matrix/
OMAGH FUTSAL CLUB
Omagh Futsal are a charity that was founded in 2017 by Martin Cassidy who has a background in Futsal and community development alongside UEFA A Licensed Head Coach David Alonso, who has a wealth of experience.
To find out more about their work, see www.omaghfutsal.com.
REDSTART EDUCATE
RedStart is a charity for primary-school children which delivers financial education through progressive learning. The aim of the charity is to provide financial education to transform the life chances of young people across the country. They do this in partnership with major financial institutions, local businesses and over 600 volunteers in five key locations across the UK. Sarah Marks, CEO of RedStart stressed the need for it to be colourful, energetic and fun so that it grabbed the children straightaway and ignited an interest and enthusiasm for the programme. Here is the final 1 minute animation!
BANK THE FOOD
Bank the Food are a charity on a mission to ensure food banks always have exactly what they need, when they need it.
Food banks often struggle with effectively communicating their real time supply and demand needs to their donors.
Regularly updating their real time needs to their local community can be a cumbersome admin task, which takes food bank volunteers away from their crucial work of collecting and distributing food. BanktheFood hopes to change this through an innovative free app which links food banks to donors at the most crucial time; when donors are at the supermarket.
We absolutely love the end result. It is simple, accessible, with a touch of humour in what is usually portrayed as being a bleak and depressing issue in society. We appreciated the charity’s clear vision from the start and their amazing ability to attract a celebrity voice over- wow Joe Lycett! This animation was also made possible by Claudio at Pistachio Studios. His style is extremely diverse, yet has a real talent for listening to his client’s needs and wants. This video really does demonstrate how charities can think outside the box.
““I was shocked to hear how many food banks there are in the UK and how much pressure they are under. Like many of us, I try to support but often feel like I’m guessing at what to buy when in the supermarket. BanktheFood is a frankly brilliant idea that will hopefully help the thousands of food banks in the UK get the supplies they need, when they need them. I’m proud to support them””
T21- BIRCHTREE CAFE
T-21 stands for Trisomy 21, (meaning three copies of chromosome 21) the medical name for Down’s Syndrome.
T-21 was established to meet the needs of the adult members of the Peterborough Area Down’s Syndrome Group, which was founded in 1998. They recognised the challenges that young people face in finding their place in the world as they reach their teenage and early adult years. Like all young people, they need friendship and support, but also the opportunity to gain new skills and enjoy social interaction, both in the workplace and the wider community. This desire led to them opening the Birch Tree Cafe in a disused school in Peterborough, staffed by young people with Down Syndrome. Filmmaker Andrew Rutter did an amazing job of getting the most out of everyone on the day and it is a testimony to him that he captured this much of footage all in one day!
www.t-21.co.uk/our-cafe/the-cafe
CUMBRIA ADDICTIONS, ADVICE AND SOLUTIONS (CADAS)
CADAS provides support for individuals, family members, and carers, promoting recovery in the Cumbria community. They have two strands to their professional support. Their aim is to reduce the harm caused by dependency on alcohol or substance use.
There are four CADAS centres located across Cumbria. Each centre provides adult recovery and family support services as well as some services that are unique to that particular centre. They also offer support to health, education, and social care professionals who work with or support people affected by addiction, and who would like advice or training.
Their film centres around their work with local young people who are in crisis- addiction and dependency. The film showcases the activities that they provide in order to engage and interact with young people about the consequences of long term addiction, as well as why addiction happens.
COUNCIL FOR LEARNING OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
The Council for Learning Outside the Classroom is a charity that supports and aids learning outside the classroom, across a whole range of schools in the UK. The charity provides free resources for teachers so that they are encouraged to broaden the experiences for all school children, making sure that they are catering for the children’s emotional and social needs, as well as different learning styles.
In addition to supporting schools, the charity also works with educational and cultural sites such as museums, galleries, retreats, country parks to name just a few, so that they can work towards being awarded a ‘Learning Outside the Classroom Quality badge’. The site is quality checked by the charity, so that schools can be assured that it is safe, stimulating and related to the curriculum.
We were extremely happy with the end result and really do feel that it promotes the values and ethos of the charity. Well done to @AJRutter for his splendid filmmaking skills.
POSITIVE ABOUT DOWN SYNDROME
Positive about Down Syndrome was set up by Nicola Enoch as a result of her own experiences with her son once he was diagnosed with Down Syndrome. The charity is a real gem for new and expectant parents of Down Syndrome. They offer private community groups, social networking events and more recently have published a book about life with Down Syndrome.
This project was no small task- there was over 3 hours of footage with at least ten parents interviewed, as well as three weeks of gruelling editing by our wonderful Bryony Morgan (Twitter-@Bryony_Curls). Selecting the best and most meaningful soundbites was challenging but we are convinced we made the best cuts.
The parents featured in this film are inspiring, courageous and like all 'heroes', are humble in what they have achieved with their own children and society at large.
www.positiveaboutdownsyndrome.co.uk
YOUTH MOVES
Youth Moves are a young dynamic charity and we wanted to get that across. We sourced a brilliant local filmmaker from Bristol called Arthur Cauty (www.arthurcauty.com/) and did absolute wonders. It was his idea to add the drone footage and incorporate shots of the Bristol these kids didn't see throughout the video. The result is properly cinematic in tone and exactly what we had hoped for at the outset. www.youthmoves.org.uk
SOLAR AID
SOLAR AID is an international development charity which is working to create a sustainable market for solar lights in Africa. Despite their scope and size, they didn’t have a video that showcased the work that they do. HelpFilm stepped in and organised filming in some of their communities in Malawi (not an easy task during lockdown!). It was our first international project and we love the result. It shows the ingenuity of both the charity and people on the ground in Malawi.
FRAME
FRAME are a really interesting charity. Run by scientists, their aim is promote alternatives to animal testing. Still relatively small, they asked if HelpFilm could create a video to explain their ethos and who they are. Animation immediately seemed the most obvious solution due to Covid restrictions and the relatively broad scope of their work. Everyone involved was thrilled with the final result. Enjoy!
ADULT CEREBRAL PALSY HUB
This was a series of videos we created for Adult Cerebral Palsy Hub. We had a full two day studio shoot planned for this but the lockdown meant we had to come up with an alternative, and fast. In the end, the restrictions paid off as we managed to get far more people from the Cerebral Palsy community to participate virtual. The videos were launched on World Cerebral Palsy Day.
STREETVET
This was created as part of a campaign for StreetVet - a wonderful organisation that offers free vet care to pets belonging to those experiencing homelessness in the UK. The organisation provides support for homeless pet owners who cannot afford private veterinary treatment, and educates them on the responsibilities and care of animal ownership.
The concept was to create a short story that illustrates the importance of the bond between people who suffer from homelessness and their dogs. We purposefully stayed away from a clean, info-graphic look. We wanted it to feel more real and earthy and we were thrilled with the final result. The animation was done by the brilliant Portuguese illustrator Claudio Sa and has had over 28,000 views on social media so far.
HERA
This is HelpFilm’s first animated project. HERA is a wonderful charity that empowers women survivors of modern slavery and exploitation, to achieve a better life. Working with academic and professional business mentors, HERA provides a business and entrepreneurship training programme. This support seeks to develop women's ability to grow in confidence, and achieve financial independence.
We did a series of interviews with some of these remarkable women but, because many of them are still being looked for, we were unable to show their faces on camera. Instead we came up with the idea of creating an animation and using the audio from the interviews instead. We love the final product. This was only made possible by Tom Scratcherd at Explainr Video who believed in the project and gave us an amazing deal for the animation.
Camden Community Law Centre
Camden Community Law Centre approached us to a piece celebrating their 45th anniversary. We decided the best way to showcase CCLC was to hear directly from the people they help. I love the final video as it manages to get across a flavour of all the individual stories.
The Richard Dimbleby Cancer Care Fund
The Richard Dimbleby Cancer Care Fund (www.richarddimbleby.org)were one of the first charities we worked with. They offer care and support to people living with cancer. They're also a lovely bunch of people. This was filmed in June. We had tons of footage but we really wanted to try get the sense of the night in under 90 seconds. It's a great event - walking 50km across London overnight - and it was quite emotional at the finish line.
THE CHILDREN'S SOCIETY
The Children's Society approached us as they wanted to promote the excellent work their volunteers do on a daily basis. We were happy to help and the result was published in conjunction with Volunteer's Week.
LEAP 2016
This was actually a pre curser to HelpFilm. I agreed to help out LEAP for a promotional video to allow them to summarise what it is that they do. This was the jumping off point for HelpFilm. I filmed this in a few hours on a Saturday morning and by the next week they had a video. LEAP were thrilled with the result.
FUTURE ASSEMBLY
Future Assembly was a wonderful project created by Wired Creative Fellow Annette Mees. She travelled the country asking young and old alike their view of the future. It was a project born of positivity in the midst of negative times.