BAFTA Partners with Place2Be on Children's Mental Health Initiative

London, 31 January: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has partnered with children’s mental health charity Place2Be on a series of schools events aimed at championing creativity and showcasing soft skills important for emotional wellbeing and career progression.

The events, entitled ‘BAFTA Kids Roadshow with Place2Be’, will take place in 12 towns and cities across the UK between March and November 2017. Each roadshow will include a ‘Behind The Scenes’ assembly featuring role models from BAFTA-nominated and award-winning TV, film and games, and a TV presenting masterclass. An online learning resource based around the masterclass will be available in the coming months.

The year will culminate with ‘BAFTA Kids: Red Carpet Experience’ on the day of the British Academy Children’s Awards in November, which additionally includes children lining the red carpet to collect autographs from their favourite celebrities as they arrive at the ceremony.

To celebrate the partnership, which launches in the run up to Place2Be’s Children’s Mental Health Week (6-12 February), BAFTA is launching a competition for children to design a super hero that represents the power of kindness. The winner will be chosen by a celebrity judging panel including BAFTA-winning animators, and CBBC presenters Ben Shires (Officially Amazing, MOTD Kickabout) and Katie Thistleton (CBBC HQ, CBBC Book Club), and will see their character brought to life by BAFTA-winning animation studio Blue-Zoo Productions, makers of Tree Fu Tom and Digby Dragon. The competition is now open at http://baftakids.org/power-kindness-challenge and closes on Tuesday 28 February.

In 2016, BAFTA Kids and Place2Be hosted pilot events at two London schools, and a Red Carpet Experience at the Children’s Awards, which were presented by Ben Shires and Katie Thistleton, and featured BAFTA nominated actress, Leona Vaughan (Wolfblood).

Katie Thistleton says: “Alongside sharing brilliant kids’ content directly with the audience and letting them hold the big shiny BAFTA mask, we also get the opportunity to build their confidence and develop their dreams and aspirations. While Place2Be provides mental health support and training, BAFTA shows children what goes on behind the scenes of their favourite TV shows, films and games, and together, children who may have low self-esteem or complicated home lives can have a bit of time out, laughing and joking with their friends, exploring their talents and skills and feeling good about themselves, whilst hopefully being inspired to go forward and use the skills we've taught them to shape their futures - whether they want to work in the media or not.”

Ben Shires describes the events as “an absolute joy” and continues: “The TV presenting masterclass has evolved into a series of fun, confidence-building exercises that seem to strike a chord with almost every child, even those usually deemed shy, disruptive or challenging. There’s no greater feeling of accomplishment than being told the child who’s just spoken so eloquently in front of their whole class has never done anything like that before.”

Amanda Berry OBE, Chief Executive of BAFTA, says: “We know what a powerful role moving image can play in inspiring young people, and helping them to recognise and manage their emotions. We are therefore delighted to be partnering with Place2Be supporting children’s mental health. BAFTA looks forward to visiting schools around the UK, and to seeing all the creative entries to our ‘Power of Kindness’ competition.”

Catherine Roche, Chief Executive of Place2Be, says: “We know that children often have a lot on their minds from Place2Be’s frontline work in schools. So we are really pleased to be working in partnership with BAFTA Kids to give children around the country this incredible opportunity to build their confidence and develop their sense of self-esteem – crucial skills to thrive and succeed in life. The feedback from schools in London to date has been fantastic, so it is wonderful to be able take the show on the road, and offer our Partner Schools around the country an exciting opportunity to take part.” 

The BAFTA Kids Roadshow with Place2Be has been made possible by the generous support of Michelle and Simon Orange.

‘BAFTA Kids Roadshow with Place2Be’ – Roadshow locations:

• Bath
• Birmingham
• Cardiff
• Edinburgh
• Glasgow
• Hastings
• Leeds
• Liverpool
• Manchester
• Newcastle
• Nottingham
• London (BAFTA Kids: Red Carpet Experience)

Power of Kindness competition judging panel:

• Ben Shires – Presenter, Officially Amazing and MOTD Kickabout
• Katie Thistleton – Presenter CBBC HQ and CBBC Book Club
• Ben Bocquelet – Creator, The Amazing World of Gumball
• Sarah Gomes Harris – Co-creator, Sarah and Duck
• Daniel Postgate – Producer/writer, Clangers
• Adam Shaw – Animation Director and co-founder of Blue-Zoo Productions
• Jennie Meadows, Director of Communications, Place2Be

Note to Editors:

Katie Thistleton and Ben Shires are available for press interviews.

For further information, please contact:

Charlotte Inett at freuds
T: +44 (0)20 3003 6350
E: [email protected]

Niyi Akeju at BAFTA
T: +44 (0) 20 7292 5865
E: [email protected]

For images, logos, accreditation, transcripts and more, visit www.bafta.org/press.