An inspirational film, made by and for children in care, got a standing ovation at its premiere in Reading recently.
The film, which is almost four minutes long, is an emotional, thought-provoking and ultimately uplifting account of young people’s experiences of coming into care and of being in care.
Our young people in care wanted to create the film as a way of reassuring others coming into care that it would be okay.
‘The young people were totally committed to helping improve the experiences of others coming into care, as well as having their voices and views heard,’ said Brighter Futures for Children’s Managing Director Tony Kildare.
‘The end result is an inspiring film, which left everyone at the premiere filled with pride and in awe of their amazing achievement,’ he added.
The film became a reality thanks to TellyJuice, the London-based creative video agency who gave their time and creativity free to produce a brilliant film for us.
‘TellyJuice turned the young people’s dreams of making a film into a reality and we can’t thank them enough,’ said Catie Blundell, Brighter Futures for Children’s Participation Officer, who works with the children and young people on ways to have their voices and views heard.
The young people spent a creative day at TellyJuice writing their thoughts and feelings about being in care and about their foster carers on colourful cards. To protect their identities, then held the cards up and recorded the voice over for the film.
At the end of the young people’s powerful messages, a song, called ‘Thank You’ which is dedicated to our Foster Carers was played. The song was written and performed by two of the young people and was recorded at Readipop, the Reading-based music and arts charity which, again, gave us their expertise and studio time free of charge.
The film had its premiere at a special showing, thanks to the generosity of The Vue Cinema, Reading, in front of 130 invited guests.
The film is now widely available on our social media sites and on our website at www.brighterfuturesforchildren.org and is rapidly clocking up views.
‘Our young people have helped allay the fears for many children coming into care, as well as promoting the fantastic work of our foster carers.
‘We’re hoping it will also encourage more people in Reading to come forward as foster carers with us, to help enhance the lives of our children and young people by offering them the same level of care – both short and long-term – and to keep them in Reading, where, together, we can offer them a brighter future,’ said Mr Kildare.
View the film at www.brighterfuturesforchildren.org
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